In a case that reads like a Hollywood thriller, Kelley Lynch, former personal manager to Leonard Cohen, is preparing to file a groundbreaking lawsuit against the LAPD, Los Angeles City Attorney, and unnamed John Does. The suit alleges obstruction, retaliation, and interference with her ability to secure tax information and pursue civil litigation against Cohen’s estate. Adding fuel to the fire, Lynch’s claims are bolstered by new revelations of forgery involving Leonard Cohen’s estate attorney, Robert Kory, in a deposition recently leaked to the mainstream media.
Forgery Allegations Rock Cohen’s Estate
Lynch’s lawsuit centers on damning allegations that Robert Kory, Cohen’s longtime lawyer and estate trustee, forged a trust document to assume control of Cohen’s estate. According to a deposition from Cohen’s estate planning attorney, Reeve Chudd, the document was created after Cohen’s death, and Kory used it to position himself as trustee. Lynch further contends that this same forged document was employed in appeals involving her, raising serious concerns about the integrity of legal proceedings tied to Cohen’s estate. Artwork - Robert Kory, Cohen's lawyer, stands at the center of LA Superior Court's appellate division, a figure of defiance. He is animatedly waving a forged trust document, the focal point of the image, presenting it emphatically to the justices seated on the bench.
“These allegations aren’t just shocking—they’re criminal,” Lynch says. “If Kory forged documents to assume control of Leonard Cohen’s estate, that undermines every legal decision tied to his role as trustee, including actions involving me.”
Tax Obstruction and Retaliation
Lynch’s lawsuit will demand injunctive relief to address what she describes as a years-long campaign to obstruct her efforts to obtain tax information related to Cohen’s entities, including Blue Mist Touring, Inc. (BMT), Traditional Holdings, LLC (TH), and Old Ideas, LLC (OI). She asserts that tax returns for BMT and TH have not been filed since 2003, creating significant tax issues.
She further alleges that fraudulent K-1 forms, falsely listing her as a partner in Cohen’s sole proprietorship LC Investments, LLC, have yet to be corrected, despite repeated demands and whistleblower reports filed with the IRS. Lynch claims that LAPD and the City Attorney’s office have gone so far as to threaten her with arrest if she contacts Kory and Michelle Rice, lawyers for Cohen’s estate, further blocking her ability to resolve the tax issues.
The Estate’s Ongoing Tax Scandal
Adding to the controversy, Lynch points to recent filings in state court in which the Cohen estate admitted that its federal estate tax return omitted approximately $50 million in intellectual property valuations. Instead of amending the returns, the estate reportedly decided to “wait and see” how the IRS responds—a decision Lynch describes as reckless and indicative of broader financial mismanagement.
“The estate’s actions show a blatant disregard for federal tax obligations,” Lynch says. “Their refusal to file tax returns for Cohen-related entities and correct fraudulent filings adds insult to injury.”
The estate, trust, trustee, their lawyers, interim trustee, heirs, and their legal representatives blatantly refuse to provide Kelley Lynch with critical tax information for Blue Mist Touring, Inc. (BMT), Traditional Holdings, LLC (TH), and Old Ideas, LLC (OI). They continue to defy federal law by failing to ensure that tax returns are filed for BMT and TH—returns that have not been submitted since 2003—while also refusing to retract fraudulent K-1 forms illegally transmitted to the IRS for 2004 and 2005. These K-1s falsely implicate Lynch as a partner in LC Investments, LLC, Leonard Cohen’s sole proprietorship, despite Cohen’s sworn testimony confirming she was not. This brazen misconduct violates federal tax regulations mandating accurate filings and proper documentation, effectively obstructing Lynch’s ability to comply with federal and state tax obligations.
Whistleblower Turned Target: Kelley Lynch Accuses LA Authorities of Retaliation and Intimidation
Kelley Lynch, armed with a trove of meticulously documented evidence, has taken her fight to federal authorities, including the IRS, FBI, and DOJ. Her submissions, which expose systemic tax fraud and financial misconduct within Leonard Cohen’s sprawling network of entities, include corporate books, financial records, and detailed memoranda from her legal counsel and accountant—an experienced former member of the IRS Criminal Division.
But instead of support, Lynch alleges she became the target of a relentless campaign of retaliation orchestrated by the Los Angeles City Attorney, in coordination with the LAPD and tacit backing from the LA District Attorney’s office. In a chilling detail, Lynch claims an LA DA representative appeared in the courtroom during her legal battles, ostensibly to intimidate her as she pursued justice. Furthermore, as documented in her reports to the IRS, FBI, and DOJ, members of the District Attorney’s office also directly threatened her, compounding what she describes as a coordinated effort to silence her and shield powerful individuals from accountability.
Lynch’s reports to federal agencies included damning evidence, as well as documentation of years of stalking and harassment directed at her, her sons, and her close associates—a campaign she believes was designed to break her resolve. Rather than addressing her whistleblower claims, Lynch asserts the City Attorney weaponized the legal system to discredit her, obstruct her efforts to expose Cohen’s estate, and silence her with baseless prosecutions.
This disturbing account shines a harsh light on the alleged abuse of power by LA authorities to shield influential figures from scrutiny while punishing a whistleblower for daring to tell the truth. Lynch's evidence paints a harrowing picture of systemic retaliation and corruption that may finally be exposed in court.
Lynch’s defense counsel revealed a startling theory during her legal battles: "The City Attorney is attempting to sabotage the IRS, discredit you, and the DA is involved because it doesn’t want the Spector verdict overturned." This explosive claim points to the City Attorney’s fixation on Lynch’s friendship and professional ties with Phil Spector, as well as her communications with his high-profile defense team, including Bruce Cutler, Doron Weinberg, and appellate attorney Dennis Riordan. The City Attorney’s alleged obsession, coupled with its legal maneuvers, suggests a coordinated effort to suppress potential revelations that could impact Spector’s appeal and deflect scrutiny from Lynch’s whistleblowing activities.
Adding to the intrigue, Lynch discovered years later that Michelle Rice of Kory & Rice, LLP, had taken the extraordinary and unauthorized step of changing Lynch’s address on PACER and with the federal court—re. interpleaded Traditional Holdings (TH) funds in a lawsuit accusing Cohen and Kory of extortion (filed by his financial advisor and investor)—to Phil Spector’s Pasadena, CA address. At the time, Lynch was living in Colorado. This unauthorized act obstructed service of critical legal documents in the case.
A Chilling Mafia-Style Message: “Merry Christmas” from the DA’s Investigator
In a bizarre and chilling twist, Lynch revealed that the LA District Attorney’s personal investigator advised her to tell the FBI, "Merry Christmas," during a particularly tense period of her whistleblowing efforts. Lynch, who had already met with the Los Angeles FBI and was in contact with the Denver FBI regarding matters of criminal witness and evidence tampering, tax fraud, and other serious allegations, was stunned by the comment. The unsettling message also shocked Lynch’s colleagues, one of whom remarked that it “sounds like something the Sopranos would say before riddling a car with bullets,” while another described it as a veiled “fuck you” to federal investigators. The ominous remark, made amidst her ongoing battle against alleged corruption and misconduct, left Lynch even more wary of the DA’s motivations and the disturbing undercurrents of retaliation she was facing.
Forged Trust Document and Implications for Appeals
The revelation of the forged trust document raises the stakes in Lynch’s lawsuit. She alleges that the fraudulent document was used not only to cement Kory’s role as trustee but also in legal actions and appeals directly impacting her. This includes cases where Lynch sought access to tax information and an accounting of Cohen’s entities, only to be met with legal roadblocks stemming from Kory’s disputed authority. Artwork - LA City Attorney prosecutor at Los Angeles Superior Court, passionately lying to the court that Kory & Rice are uninvolved in Kelley Lynch’s appeals, while a backdrop of chaotic legal documents and Kory's looming forged trust document underscore the dramatic tension.
“This forgery calls into question the legitimacy of every action taken by the estate and its representatives,” Lynch explains. “It’s not just about the tax fraud or retaliation—it’s about systemic abuse of power.”
Extortion Allegations: Settlements and Manipulation
Lynch’s claims go beyond obstruction and forgery. She alleges that Cohen’s representatives, including Kory, attempted to extort her by pressuring her to settle for millions she was owed and implicate Cohen’s other advisers, such as the prestigious Grubman Indursky firm and Greg McBowman, an accountant and royalty consultant. When Lynch refused to mediate or settle, Cohen and Kory allegedly escalated their efforts to discredit and retaliate against her.
In conversations with Betsy Superfon, an unsavory acquaintance of Cohen, Lynch was told that Cohen stated that “Kelley is the love of my life,” felt remorse for his actions, and “would give her anything she wanted.” Superfon also confirmed that Kory had been in contact with her personally about potential settlement offers for Kelley, describing the offer as “not the type of deal he could fax.” Despite this, Lynch remained resolute, refusing to entertain any settlement offers—even though millions were on the table—insisting that Cohen pay her the substantial sums he already owed without caveats or pressure to lie about third parties. This iinformation was memorialized for IRS, FBI, DOJ, and presented to the federal court in Colorado.
In a chilling account of alleged abuse of power, Kelley Lynch claims that LAPD and Los Angeles government actors repeatedly advised Leonard Cohen to obtain frauduelnt restraining orders against her, weaponizing these orders to suppress her lawful speech and facilitate targeted arrests. LAPD's Threat Management Unit (TMU), tasked with handling celebrity cases, allegedly leverages these restraining orders to arrest individuals and, in her case, to silence Kelley Lynch's attempts to obtain tax information, document everything for IRS, FBI, DOJ, and, ultimately to defend herself and her legal interests. The restraining orders also reportedly targeted Lynch’s lawful online speech and cease and desist demands, where she refuted Cohen's lies, false allegations, and defamatory mainstream media reports brought to her attention by friends and family. Artwork - LAPD Threat Management Unit's celebrity office with Leonard Cohen posters adorning the walls.
Adding a bizarre and cruel twist, Cohen’s legal filings included references to Lynch’s whistleblower emails to the IRS, FBI, DOJ, and other authorities, as well as Cohen's own emails about her friend’s suicide. The suicide, which occurred years earlier in another state and was entirely unrelated to Lynch, became a weapon in Cohen’s hands. In a malicious email sent to a third party and forwarded to Lynch, Cohen raised the tragedy in a calculated attempt to attack her character or to attack Phil Spector indirectly. Lynch sees this as a particularly vindictive and baseless move, exploiting a tragic event to bolster his narrative.
These filings also contained veiled attacks on Lynch’s Tibetan Buddhist faith, a bitter irony considering Cohen’s status as an ordained Zen Buddhist monk. Lynch argues this was a deliberate smear against her beliefs, adding another layer of malice to Cohen’s legal maneuvers. The filings also included references to Cohen’s claims of participating in the CIA’s MK Ultra program and other “good rock ’n roll stories,” which Lynch suggests were used to dismiss her legitimate concerns as outlandish fabrications. Artwork - Sigmund Freud in an MK Ultra psychiatric lab, reading Leonard Cohen's paperwork with ink blot tests depicting Zen monks wearing fedoras.
Further adding to Lynch’s suspicions, she began to wonder if Cohen had intentions to aid the District Attorney in their pursuit of Phil Spector. Spector’s defense had argued that the woman at his home had shot herself, and Lynch later learned through a journalist that Cohen’s statements had been presented to the Grand Jury. Cohen even testified during related proceedings, delivering what Lynch describes as a “command performance” of one of his countless, contradictory gun stories about Spector. Cohen himself referred to these tales as “highly embellished good rock ’n roll stories,” which undermined their credibility. Artwork - Leonard Cohen and Sigmund Freud in an MK Ultra Lab discussing Cohen's "good rock 'n roll stories" about Phil Spector.
In a striking contradiction, Cohen testified under oath that his relationship with Lynch was purely business and that she never stole from him—“just my peace of mind.” This testimony clashed sharply with the allegations outlined in Cohen’s retaliatory yellow journalism style civil lawsuit narrative, which Lynch has described as riddled with fabrications. Cohen even confirmed to other media outlets that he wasn’t accusing Lynch of theft, making the accusations in his civil suit appear increasingly bizarre and retaliatory in nature. Leonard Cohen, leveraging his tax fraud defense narrative, falsely accused Kelley Lynch of being his lover in an apparent attempt to discredit her using misogyny as a tool and deflect scrutiny from his own misconduct.
"I never discuss my mistresses or my tailors" Leonard Cohen. He was the voice in every lonely boy's bedroom. The Godfather of Gloom. But after years on Mount Baldy, a Buddhist retreat, Leonard Cohen has finally found peace. Here he talks about drink, drugs and women, and why nirvana is now a mean tuna sandwich. Leonard Cohen is the high priest of pathos. His voice exudes misery. A suicidal Kurt Cobain, when describing the most melancholic place imaginable, in his dirge 'Penny Royal Tea', sang of a 'Leonard Cohen afterworld' where he could 'sigh eternally'. Cohen is used to this reputation. Even the 67-year-old singer says his record company should give razor blades away with his records. https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2001/oct/14/features.magazine37
LAPD and City Attorney: Abuse of Power, Smearing Kelley Lynch with Lies About Oliver Stone and Phil Spector
Lynch accuses the LAPD and City Attorney’s office of colluding with Cohen’s estate to weaponize fraudulent restraining orders and sham prosecutions against her. She alleges these actions were designed to obstruct her whistleblowing efforts and intimidate her into silence. “They lied about federal tax matters, claimed I had the tax information I was seeking, and smeared me as a ‘disgruntled ex-lover,’ which is pure fiction,” Lynch says. “This was a coordinated effort to protect Cohen’s estate and punish me for speaking out.” Adding to the salacious attacks, Lynch reveals that the prosecutor falsely claimed she "fucked Oliver Stone," a baseless lie perpetuated by Cohen and his lawyer, Robert Kory. According to Lynch, this falsehood was fed to the father of her younger son in an effort to stir up a custody dispute, with additional claims that she had an affair with Stone while still with her son's father, record producer Steve Lindsey. "It was a calculated smear campaign designed to discredit me personally and professionally,” Lynch asserts.
The alleged misconduct includes false statements by the City Attorney claiming that Lynch acted out of revenge, fabricated narratives to discredit her through an association with Phil Spector, and baseless lies and false accusations that she fabricated tax fraud claims—even though the prosecutor was aware that the IRS Criminal Division had opened an investigation. This is evidenced by documents presented in a so-called "IRS Binder" in the prosecutor's possesion which contained no proof that Lynch received tax forms, that tax returns for Cohen’s business entities were filed, or that Cohen retracted the illegal K-1s related to his sole proprietorship LLC. The only document from federal authorities in the so-called "IRS Binder" was an explosive email from Kelly Sopko, a Special Investigator with the U.S. Treasury, instructing Kelley Lynch to report the damning allegations of Leonard Cohen’s civil and criminal tax fraud to Agent Luis Tejeda, head of the IRS fraud division in Los Angeles. This directive, which corroborated findings by Lynch’s tax litigators and CPA, underscores the gravity of the tax fraud allegations and raises serious questions about the lengths Cohen’s camp went to deflect attention from his financial misconduct. Lynch asserts that these actions were designed to discredit her and distract from the estate’s own legal and financial troubles.
Demands for Transparency and Accountability
Lynch’s upcoming lawsuits will demand:
• An injunction to prevent further obstruction by LAPD, the City Attorney, and others.
• A full accounting of financial activities and tax filings for BMT, TH, OI, and LC Investments, LLC.
• Correction of fraudulent filings, including illegal K-1 forms tied to LC Investments, LLC.
• Immediate filing of outstanding tax returns for Cohen-related entities.
• Accountability for the forged trust document used to grant Kory control of Cohen’s estate. - Artwork: A Homeland-style detective board in an investigative room, highlighting the connections and conspiracy elements in Kelley Lynch's case. The scene is filled with intricate details to reflect a serious tone of investigation.
A High-Stakes Legal Battle
As Lynch’s legal challenges unfold, her claims threaten to expose a tangled web of alleged corruption, forgery, and abuse involving Cohen’s estate and prominent Los Angeles institutions. “This isn’t just about Leonard Cohen,” Lynch says. “It’s about holding people accountable for their actions—whether it’s tax fraud, forgery, or abusing the legal system to silence a whistleblower.”
A Salient Takeaway
This case serves as a broader indictment of systemic corruption in both private and public spheres because it underscores how powerful individuals and institutions can manipulate legal systems to protect their interests while marginalizing those who expose wrongdoing. Kelley Lynch’s allegations illustrate a pattern where private entities and public officials work together to weaponize authority, deflect scrutiny, and discredit whistleblowers through a combination of legal intimidation, defamation, false allegations, forgery, and salacious personal smears.
The intricate web of allegations—including forgery, tax fraud, legal intimidation, and personal defamation—points to a systemic failure to hold powerful individuals and entities accountable.
Disclaimer: The article and accompanying illustrations present Kelley Lynch as a "haute couture Buddhist" hipster character in an imaginative and stylized portrayal. This depiction reflects an artistic and surreal interpretation inspired by the complex legal disputes and public narratives that followed her split from Leonard Cohen. The choice to portray Lynch adorned in jewels and sophisticated attire references Cohen's statements after their parting, where he attributed her alleged “downfall” to extravagant spending on items like jewelry, shoes, and haute couture—a narrative Lynch firmly disputes. The artistic representation, while not intended as a literal portrayal, emphasizes the intensity and multifaceted nature of her legal claims, offering a metaphorical view into the high-stakes drama of her experience. This stylized depiction serves to underscore the layers of conflict, public perception, and personal resilience inherent in her story.
Artwork -
The Los Angeles City Attorney's prosecutors targeted Kelley Lynch's religion in a disturbing display of bias, with Leonard Cohen’s stalking and harassment agent, Stephen Gianelli, amplifying the attacks. Gianelli, Kory & Rice's harassment and stalking agent, targeted revered Tibetan Buddhist leaders, including Karmapa, Sharmapa, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, and Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, spreading defamatory narratives. Prosecutors further escalated these efforts by directly targeting Tibetan Buddhism, its great lamas, and sacred dharma protectors, making religion a battleground in their retaliatory campaign against Lynch.
Kelley and His Holiness Kusum Lingpa, photo by Leonard Cohen
