Promoter Denies Fraud

An attorney for Texas promoter Hiro Jamal Hariram, who’s accused of bilking Brownsville city officials and a local developer out of funds for fictitious concerts by top-name artists, says his client is getting a bad rap.

Michael L. Young said during a July 27 press conference that the district attorney’s office and city officials are using Hariram as a scapegoat through “misrepresentations and, in some cases, outright untruthfulness,” according to the Brownsville Herald.

“We believe that city officials have brought pressure to bear on the police department to arrest Mr. Hariram without a thorough investigation,” Young said.

Hariram was considered a fugitive until he turned himself in to police July 23. He was booked on two felony theft charges and released on about $30,000 bail, according to the paper.

The promoter is accused of conning city officials out of $9,562 for a canceled July 4 Boyz II Men concert at Brownsville Sports Park under the pretense he was an agent with Grabow Booking Agency of Beverly Hills, Calif.

Hariram is also accused of scamming Richard Hope of Hope Properties out of $46,000 for an allegedly bogus Sept. 5 concert featuring Garth Brooks and Shania Twain also at Brownsville Sports Park.

Reps contacted for Boyz II Men and the country stars were unaware of those bookings.

Hariram previously told the Herald he’d canceled the Boys II Men concert in April or May and had never pretended he worked for Grabow Booking.