Coliseum Civil Complaints Reinstated

The state owned-Coliseum sued Pasquale Rotella’s Insomniac Inc. and Reza Gerami’s Go Ventures in 2011 alleging unfair competition and conspiracy to defraud.

The appellate ruling means the commission that oversees the Coliseum will be able to pursue profits the promoters made on concerts at the stadium, commission attorney Charles Slyngstad told the Los Angeles Times.

The proceeds from dozens of concerts that took place at the facility reportedly amount to millions of dollars.

Rotella and Gerami could also be on the hook for nearly $2 million in payments made to the Coliseum’s former events manager Todd DeStefano, Slyngstad added.

Gary Jay Kaufman, an attorney for Rotella and Insomniac, noted in a statement to the Times that the appellate court threw out other claims including fraud, negligence and violations of the state False Claims Act.

“We have the utmost confidence that we will ultimately prevail on all remaining claims,” Kaufman said. “Neither Insomniac nor Mr. Rotella did anything wrong and we continue to believe that this lawsuit was ill-conceived, politically motivated and publicity driven.”

Rotella, Gerami and DeStefano are still scheduled to stand trial next month on criminal charges related to the scandal, including allegations of bribery and conspiracy.

All have pleaded not guilty. Leopold Caudillo Jr., a former technology manager for the Coliseum, is facing a separate trial for siphoning Colisieum funds into a company he owned and a contractor for the stadium, Tony Estrada, was also charged with paying kickbacks to former Coliseum General Manager Patrick Lynch, the paper said.

Estrada is considered a fugitive.