Promoter Facing Welfare Charges

A concert promoter from Winnipeg, Manitoba, has found himself in hot water with the provincial government over alleged welfare fraud.

The province has filed suit against former Nite Out Entertainment head Bruce Rathbone, who received nearly $100,000 in welfare assistance between 1999 and 2004 while allegedly failing to report earnings from several other businesses, according to court documents obtained by CBC News.

Rathbone reportedly underwent several reviews of his financial assistance during the period, yet failed to update changes in his income.

“These misrepresentations and false statements by [Rathbone] were made fraudulently, in that he knew that they were false, or alternatively that he made them recklessly, not caring whether they were true or false,” the suit says.

Rathbone denied allegations that he’d failed to report income to the CBC, calling the claims “baloney.”

A trial date has not been set.

Nite Out Entertainment was a major force on the Manitoba concert scene from the’80s through the mid-1990s, bringing artists including David Bowie and Pearl Jam to the city.