Date: Fri, Sep 11, 2015 at 11:30 AM
Subject: Cease & Desist, Gianelli
To: STEPHEN GIANELLI <stephengianelli@gmail.com>, "*IRS.Commisioner" <*IRS.Commisioner@irs.gov>, Washington Field <washington.field@ic.fbi.gov>, ASKDOJ <ASKDOJ@usdoj.gov>, "Division, Criminal" <Criminal.Division@usdoj.gov>, "Doug.Davis" <Doug.Davis@ftb.ca.gov>, Dennis <Dennis@riordan-horgan.com>, MollyHale <MollyHale@ucia.gov>, nsapao <nsapao@nsa.gov>, fsb <fsb@fsb.ru>, rbyucaipa <rbyucaipa@yahoo.com>, khuvane <khuvane@caa.com>, blourd <blourd@caa.com>, Robert MacMillan <robert.macmillan@gmail.com>, a <anderson.cooper@cnn.com>, wennermedia <wennermedia@gmail.com>, Mick Brown <mick.brown@telegraph.co.uk>, "glenn.greenwald" <glenn.greenwald@firstlook.org>, Harriet Ryan <harriet.ryan@latimes.com>, "hailey.branson" <hailey.branson@latimes.com>, Stan Garnett <stan.garnett@gmail.com>, Mike Feuer <mike.feuer@lacity.org>, "mayor.garcetti" <mayor.garcetti@lacity.org>, Opla-pd-los-occ <OPLA-PD-LOS-OCC@ice.dhs.gov>, "Kelly.Sopko" <Kelly.Sopko@tigta.treas.gov>, Whistleblower <whistleblower@judiciary-rep.senate.gov>, Attacheottawa <AttacheOttawa@ci.irs.gov>, tips@radaronline.com
Stephen Gianelli,
I am addressing your ongoing harassment over Leonard Cohen legal matters, my countless cease and desist letters, your false and slanderous accusations (made to government agencies and others), the harassment of my sons and others, your attempts to threaten and intimidate witnesses, your attempts to infiltrate matters and elicit information, your provocations, and your communication with Mr. Fabian of the IRS Chief Trial Counsel’s office. Given the fact that you have repeatedly harassed me with docket information from the Tax Court and actually emailed me documents you downloaded from Tax Court (re. my Petition), it is obvious that you did not actually contact Mr. Fabian for copies of documents which would be an inappropriate request in any event. I have addressed this situation with Tax Court, Mr. Fabian, and advised you to cease and desist.
As for vile and obscene emails, I remain convinced that you sent the “bloody stump” email and other emails using the moniker 14th Sheepdog which you created and used on your entirely slanderous blog.
I, and others, have maintained the harassing emails you have sent since hearing from Cohen’s lawyer, Michelle Rice, in May 2009. You are a chronic pathological liar so your self-serving characterizations will not replace the actual evidence. That evidence has been submitted to IRS, FBI, and DOJ.
I have not accused you of being a pedophile. You attempted to (and did) lure my then minor son into privately communicating with you. I have stated – very clearly – that any adult stranger who attempts to communicate with a minor should be viewed as a potential sexual predator. I have no idea who you are and neither do either of my sons who have addressed this ongoing criminal harassment (and other issues) in their declarations submitted to numerous courts. Ray was quite clear when he informed you, Walsh, and Lawrence that your emails made him physically ill (and noted that Michelle Rice had been copied in) and Rutger was equally clear when he advised you to “shut up” and then addressed your copying him in on an email to the City Attorney by noting that you and Walsh appear to be two “fruitcakes” who stay up all night conjuring up insane accusations.
On Sat, Nov 1, 2014 at 7:35 AM, Rutger Penick wrote [in response to Gianelli/Walsh’s communications with the City Attorney – copying him in]:
Wow, you guys are ridiculous. What did you do last night? Thinking of things to write? Bravo fruitcakes. Suzanne [Walsh]and Gianelli are meant for each other, thunder buddies?
Sincerely,
Rutger Penick
I have never accused Leonard Cohen or ripping Rutger’s fingers off. He and the City Attorney, who elicited that obscene and vile testimony, are the individuals that made this false statement. I am well aware of the criminal negligence in the Whole Foods matter and repeatedly contacted the District Attorney’s office requesting that they investigate and prosecute the responsible parties. This is also a very serious public health issue.
Actually, Leonard Cohen is the individual who sexually harassed me, forced me to read business/legal documents to him while he soaked in bubble baths, and exposed his penis to me.
I have stated that you appear amused by your repulsive conduct and seem to get off on it. I am aware that Pat Dixon views Eminem’s song “Puke” and his statements about “dry humping” as a threat to him. I am also aware that Alan Jackson views Eminem’s song “Love the Way You Lie” as being about him. I am a friend of Phil Spector’s and remain utterly loyal to him. I have made that abundantly clear since the incident at his home whereby Clarkson shot herself and endangered his life.
I have no idea if Judge Ken Freeman is corrupt or not. LA Superior Court entered a judgment against me, wrongfully converted my property to Cohen, and failed to obtain jurisdiction over me. I know a judge in the Bay Area asked if Freeman was senile or old and his clerk simply had him sign a highly questionable judgment that inserted corporations – not named as parties to the suit – into it.
A jury heard the Boulder PD matter and did not believe Boulder PD. I’m not certain why anyone involved in the matter would brag about that fact. I have stated, and Rutger’s declaration confirms this, that LAPD informed my son that they would shoot me and my dog. They also informed my son that they were there because my dog was my alleged hostage and they were taking precautions. I don’t believe LAPD was at my house for a friendly visit. I can assure you of that and believe they endangered the life of my son who they willfully disregarded.
My letters, including this one, have advised you to cease and desist and addressed your ongoing criminal harassment, stalking, threats, false accusations, slanderous and defamatory statements, blatant lies, witness intimidation, and so forth. You most certainly appear to be an unofficial member of Leonard Cohen’s legal team.
Kelley Lynch
P.S. Leonard Cohen retaliated against me after hearing that I intended to report his tax fraud to IRS. I was advised that the “informant” actually advised Cohen that I wrote the IRS Chief Trial Counsel’s office on July 25, 2004. Cohen personally addressed these matters with me in the fall of 2004. Given the fact that you were not involved with either Cohen or myself for the 20 years I worked with him, you are not in a position to address his retaliation, theft, tax fraud, or conduct with respect to me. Cohen has a pattern of falsely accusing others, using operatives, and lying.
From: Helvetia Hornwaller <simitheseventeenth
Date: Sat, Aug 31, 2013 at 1:44 AM
Subject:
To: Kelley.lynch.2010@gmail.
Subject:
To: Kelley.lynch.2010@gmail.
REDACTED.
DECLARATION OF ANNE JULIA MCLEAN
I, ANNE JULIA MCLEAN, declare:
1. I am a citizen of Canada. I also am known by the literary pseudonym Ann Diamond. I
have known Leonard Cohen for approximately thirty-eight years. I have known Kelley Lynch since approximately 2008. I am over the age of 18 years. I have personal knowledge of the facts contained in this declaration and if called upon to testify I could and would testify competently as to the truth of the facts stated herein.
2. In May 2008 I received an email from Kelley Lynch, who was then living in Colorado.
I had read the 2005 news stories alleging she had stolen Cohen’s retirement fund. Knowing Cohen, I had always wondered about her side of the story. Over the next few weeks we corresponded. She came across as sensible and rational, but clearly furious about the accusations of embezzlement which she denied. She was sending out hundreds of emails to the media, FBI, DOJ, IRS etc. and copied some of our personal emails to her internet audience. Since her working relationship with Cohen in 1988 began at approximately the time I stopped seeing him, she filled in some blanks and provided some insight into problems I had subsequently had. I identified with her to the extent that it seemed we had both been close to Cohen at one time, but had serious disagreements with him. When we ‘mutinied’ he used his personal power, oratorical skills and media contacts to damage us professionally and personally. Because Lynch’s side of the story had been ignored in the media, I ended up writing an account (“Whatever Happened to Kelley Lynch”) which I posted on my blog in August 2008. Two weeks later I received a letter from Robert Kory demanding I take down the blog or be sued for libel. Because I was far away in Greece, and did not know Kelley Lynch personally, I felt I had to comply. Kelley continued circulating the text of my article over the internet and many people have now read it. A paraphrased version appears in Sylvie Simmons’ biography of Cohen, I’m Your Man, where my article[Ann Diamo1] is credited in the footnotes. See Exhibit A attached hereto and made a part hereof (“Whatever Happened to Kelley Lynch”).
3. I met Leonard Cohen through a mutual acquaintance in Montreal in November 1977,
when I was 26 and he was 43. He was still married, but legally separated, from his wife Suzanne with whom he had two children. Leonard Cohen was known as a ladies’ man around our neighbourhood of Montreal, but he had just brought out a new record, Death of a Ladies’ Man (with Phil Spector) and a book of poems (Death of a Lady’s Man) which seemed to send a message he was turning over a new leaf. We saw each other a few times over the next two years, on occasions when he came into Montreal from Los Angeles. Our relationship was more than a friendship. There was a strong sense of personal connection. Early on, I realized I was interested in him as a mentor or teacher, not necessarily as a lover or boyfriend. Soon after we met, he introduced me to his “old friend” Hazel Field, a woman about my age, who acted as if she was in charge of Leonard’s relationships with women. This resulted in my seeing him mostly in private, rather than joining his circle of friends.
4. In 1979 I travelled to Greece, where he had invited me to meet him on the island of
Hydra. I was on Hydra for three and a half months, thanks to a small arts grant from the Canadian government. In 1980, I received another arts grant and was on Hydra writing a novel from December to September 1981. Leonard was also there for the entire year. In the fishbowl of Greek island life, I observed his complicated relationships with women younger than myself. However when I went out with other men, he began telling me we were getting married. This became a “theme”, although it seemed more like a way to make sure I didn’t wander off. He spoke with great conviction, making it hard to know what to believe.
5. In 1982 he suggested I go to Mount Baldy Zen Center, outside Los Angeles, to meet
Zen Master Sasaki Roshi. By then I was ready to move on and end our relationship, which had become ambiguous and confusing. He had hinted he was interested in sado-masochistic sex, which did not interest me. I was disturbed by his secret world that involved lots of deception and emotional cruelty. The Roshi (who initially told me I should “marry Leonard Cohen”) was helpful and encouraged me to think Leonard was still a “good friend.”
6. I returned to Montreal where a friend had offered me an apartment he was giving up.
It was small, pleasant, with incredibly low rent. My friend was not aware he was living next door to Leonard Cohen. Montreal’s economy was depressed and low rent was a big factor in allowing me to survive on a freelance income over the 12 years I lived there, especially after I quit my teaching job. During those years I saw Leonard only occasionally, usually by accident in the street, but sometimes he phoned or I phoned him. Our relationship was distant but cordial, but there also were a few tense incidents. His daughter Lorca was a concern. At age 10 she asked me to help her write a book about her father. When Leonard found out he banned me from talking to her. Another source of tension was Hazel Field’s presence on the block. Hazel is a famous gossip and spread damaging rumours about me that no one would ever repeat to me. Leonard remained generally friendly to me and once assured me if I was the subject of gossip it was just due to “jealousy.”
7. In March 1992, for the Montreal Gazette I interviewed Leonard’s close friend,
Canadian poet Irving Layton on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Before I left Layton remarked that he was pleasantly surprised to meet me and “find out you’re nothing like the violent, psychotic woman I’ve been hearing about all these years.” He first denied, but later admitted the source was Leonard Cohen. This came as a shock. I sent Leonard an angry fax, then regretted it and phoned to apologize. It was the first and only time I ever telephoned his Los Angeles number, but he accused me of being the anonymous caller who had been harassing him for weeks. He avoided answering my question. I was left with the impression that he had told certain people I was a “dangerous psychotic” while allowing me to think nothing was amiss. From then on, I realized he had a higher-than-average capacity to deceive people, even those he called ‘friends.’ Perhaps he liked pandering to people’s fantasies, or maybe he liked creating chaos. Or maybe this was his way of controlling people by divide-and-rule.
8. In autumn 1993 his daughter Lorca, then 19, was enrolled in the BA program at
Concordia. She was living in Leonard’s building on the corner of our street with a group of her friends. Soon after she arrived she knocked on my door and asked if she could speak to me about something important. I hadn’t seen her in five years, and she looked drastically different from the last time: she was covered with tattoos and piercings and had dyed her hair black and purple. I had a deadline to meet, so I asked her to come back another time but she never did. A few months later I met her with Leonard in the park. She was returning to Los Angeles. Later I was told she had overdosed on heroin and had dropped out of university, but I had been unaware of all these problems when they were happening.
9. In summer 1995, Freda Guttman, who had been Leonard’s first girlfriend when they
were both teenagers, stopped me in the street and asked point-blank if I thought Leonard had REDACTED his daughter from the age of four, as Lorca had told her friends. Based on things I had witnessed over 8 years, I thought it was possible. I went home and didn’t get out of bed for two days – the only time in my life that I experienced that kind of emotional paralysis. I suddenly realized the wild, extreme stories circulating about me were probably a tactic to discredit and isolate me in case I ever talked about Lorca. In fact, I knew very little about Lorca because I almost never saw her, but Leonard feared she had confided in me. He had set me up as a female bogeyman as a useful distraction. The stories about me had spread far and wide, thanks to Hazel’s media contacts including with a gossip columnist. The publishing industry was going through a major spasm from which it has never recovered and I become one of many journalist-casualties.
10. In May 1996, I travelled to Los Angeles and stayed at Rinzai Ji Zen Center for six
months. I had a grant to write a novel (Dead White Males, DC Books, 2000), which I did while staying in a house across the street from the Zen Center. I also hoped to talk to Leonard and resolve some issues – I later realized this was naïve. This visit to Roshi’s centre was different from other times when I stayed as a practicing, rent-paying resident. Many of the monks and nuns seemed to have abandoned the Roshi (then 89) and gravitated to Leonard Cohen, who had moved into a cabin on Mount Baldy. I gathered he was seen by some as a possible dharma successor to the Roshi. The atmosphere had also changed for the worse. After Leonard spoke to her about me, a nun rushed at me in the kitchen and physically pushed me out the door. During the six months I was there, I never made a phone call or any attempt to speak to Leonard about the unresolved business between us that included child abuse and destructive slander. The atmosphere was instantly so tense, I decided to do nothing. I rode my bike around Los Angeles and worked on the novel. Nevertheless, Leonard reported to the center director that I was now “phoning him every day from Culver City.” This was not the first time he assumed I was harassing him when I was not: I didn’t even know where Culver City was. Without any evidence, people believed Leonard. His word is the Gold Standard for Truth with his followers. Wherever he goes, from Greece to Montreal to Los Angeles, he finds people who are willing, even eager, to work for him without compensation, and will obey his instructions blindly in return for the honour of knowing him. His persuasive gifts and charm are well-known and can be hard to resist.
11. Those who mutiny, like Kelley Lynch and me, receive the opposite treatment. Nothing
I say or do has been a match for the cliché of the “Scorned Woman” – or “jilted ex” who goes on a rampage to avenge her rejection. As Goebbels said, if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes truth. I have learned the hard way that Leonard Cohen is a very gifted and skilled fabricator who does not back down even when confronted with evidence of his lying. His manipulative skills are exceptional and almost suggest early training in psychological warfare, including strategies such as putting people in “double-bind” situations so they will discredit themselves. As a friend, he can be very kind and generous, but soon becomes utterly fixated on control. He demands total loyalty. He is a master manipulator. Once he has decided you are too “mutinous” and a potential future threat, he becomes ruthless and will go to great lengths to see you neutralized and destroyed. Like his neo-con heroes, he believes in and practices “pre-emptive strikes.”
12. In 2001, I wrote a book-length blog which I posted on line. This was due to my being
targeted for years by false stories that I had stalked and harassed Cohen who allegedly did not even know me. I felt my 20-year history with him made for a memoir which was also a documentary of the post-60s era and the transition to conservative values, in which Leonard Cohen had played a part. I posted this 300-page, detailed narrative and added internal links which were hard to navigate. I installed hit counters on every chapter so I know with certainty of 6000+ who found the book, only about 70 read to the end where I mentioned my chance meeting with Freda Guttman who repeated Lorca’s allegations that her father had REDACTED her. In summer 2003, I received a letter from Leonard’s lawyer Van Penick asking me to remove the paragraph, which I did. A few months later, I deleted the entire blog.
13. Did Kelley Lynch rob Leonard Cohen of millions, and if so, how did she end up
penniless and bit homeless? I can’t believe Leonard Cohen – a shrewd judge of character -- would employ a personal manager for 17 years, form a close relationship with her and her family, put his children in her care, and appoint her to deal with his daily business, unless she was diligent, extremely intelligent and impeccable in her conduct. His version requires us to believe he is a trusting, incompetent fool, which he is not. In my view, baseless slander and outrageous gossip have played a huge role in what should have been a straightforward legal matter.
14. In my experience Leonard Cohen draws on a pool of unstable, addicted, celebrity-
worshipping acquaintances who serve as his unofficial bodyguards and ‘back-up band’ to his fanciful tales and ambiguous statements. Long ago, I came to the conclusion there are two distinct Leonard Cohens. The secret Leonard Cohen has doubtful ethics, and lives off the brilliance and charm of the public personality.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.
Dated: 25 April 2015
EXHIBIT A
Ann Diamond
Kelley Lynch is the woman accused in 2005 of skimming millions from singer Leonard Cohen’s retirement fund. I knew of her through friends of Leonard Cohen, and had heard her described in glowing terms as the agent who, singlehandedly, saved Cohen’s career in the 1990s.
In early May of this year, Lynch suddenly contacted me. She said she was mainly interested in my perceptions of Cohen as a former friend and next door neighbour in Montreal. At one time I also studied with his Zen Master in California, and had spent time with him on Hydra, Greece.
Not having heard her side of the story (I doubt that anyone has, apart from a circle of her closest friends), I was curious. Over the next few weeks, she shared several documents pertaining to the case including an affidavit written and signed by her older son, Rutger.
Not having heard her side of the story (I doubt that anyone has, apart from a circle of her closest friends), I was curious. Over the next few weeks, she shared several documents pertaining to the case including an affidavit written and signed by her older son, Rutger.
Together, they paint a picture very much at variance from the sketchy media image of Lynch as a reckless, delusional woman on the brink of a career meltdown. Lynch's own timeline also includes disturbing behind-the-scene dealings that suggest she may have been set up to take the blame for Cohen's tax situation.
The following account is based on what Lynch has sent me --
Since 2005 when she became the object of media gossip, little if anything has been heard from Kelley Lynch.
A single mother with two sons, Lynch was Leonard Cohen's personal manager from approximately 1988 to 2004, and was known for her skill, hard work, and dedication. Until 2004, Kelley lived and worked in Los Angeles where she still has many friends and acquaintances in the entertainment world including Phil Spector and Oliver Stone.
Her own account of the events that wrecked her career, varies widely from the media portrait of a reckless, delusional woman in the throes of a personal meltdown. The meltdown was real, however. By late December, 2005, Lynch had lost custody of one son and was homeless and living on the streets with her older son, Rutger, who witnessed the chain of bizarre events that had begun a year earlier.
In 2004, Lynch owned a house in Brentwood, and still worked for Cohen, who owed her money for royalties and other services, but was increasingly involved with his new girlfriend, Anjani Thomas, ex-wife of Cohen’s attorney, Robert Kory.
The following account is based on what Lynch has sent me --
Since 2005 when she became the object of media gossip, little if anything has been heard from Kelley Lynch.
A single mother with two sons, Lynch was Leonard Cohen's personal manager from approximately 1988 to 2004, and was known for her skill, hard work, and dedication. Until 2004, Kelley lived and worked in Los Angeles where she still has many friends and acquaintances in the entertainment world including Phil Spector and Oliver Stone.
Her own account of the events that wrecked her career, varies widely from the media portrait of a reckless, delusional woman in the throes of a personal meltdown. The meltdown was real, however. By late December, 2005, Lynch had lost custody of one son and was homeless and living on the streets with her older son, Rutger, who witnessed the chain of bizarre events that had begun a year earlier.
In 2004, Lynch owned a house in Brentwood, and still worked for Cohen, who owed her money for royalties and other services, but was increasingly involved with his new girlfriend, Anjani Thomas, ex-wife of Cohen’s attorney, Robert Kory.
In retrospect, Lynch believes she was set up by Cohen and his representatives to help cover up a tax situation which made the IRS “nervous.” In September 2004, Cohen’s attorney Weston told Lynch that a financial entity known as Traditional Holdings, LLC could be overturned by the IRS. Lynch, who had been selected as a partner on the entity, became uneasy and consulted a new accountant, who referred her to tax lawyers, who found irregularities in Cohen's tax history, both in the US and Canada where he has residences.
Rattled by what she was hearing – that she was being dragged into criminal tax fraud -- Lynch called the IRS in Washington and also contacted their website. An IRS collection agent advised her to call the Fraud Hotline, which she did.
Told that any further action on her part might implicate her in fraud, Lynch refused to meet with Cohen or turn over the corporate books. At that stage, Cohen’s advisers began claiming that certain payments, distributions, or advances made to her were actually "over-payments." Lynch says their accounting was incomplete and ignored her share of intellectual property, unpaid commissions and royalties, and share in Traditional Holdings, LLC. Apparently Lynch had also been issued K1 partnership tax documents and made a partner on another Cohen investment entity, LC Investments, LLC, without her permission or awareness.
Lynch says an increasingly nervous and desperate Cohen was pressuring her to agree to mediation and told a friend of hers that Lynch was "the love of his life." She and Cohen had had a brief affair in 1990, but Cohen now was offering her 50% of his "community property" as well as "palimony" through lawyer Robert Kory at a meeting attended by Lynch's legal representatives and her accountant, Dale Burgess. To Lynch, none of this made sense at the time.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles District Attorney's office received an anonymous tip informing them that Lynch was a friend of producer Phil Spector, whom Lynch maintains is innocent. Cohen, on the other hand, had given an interview in which he described a gun-waving Spector who threatened him during recording sessions in 1977.
Rattled by what she was hearing – that she was being dragged into criminal tax fraud -- Lynch called the IRS in Washington and also contacted their website. An IRS collection agent advised her to call the Fraud Hotline, which she did.
Told that any further action on her part might implicate her in fraud, Lynch refused to meet with Cohen or turn over the corporate books. At that stage, Cohen’s advisers began claiming that certain payments, distributions, or advances made to her were actually "over-payments." Lynch says their accounting was incomplete and ignored her share of intellectual property, unpaid commissions and royalties, and share in Traditional Holdings, LLC. Apparently Lynch had also been issued K1 partnership tax documents and made a partner on another Cohen investment entity, LC Investments, LLC, without her permission or awareness.
Lynch says an increasingly nervous and desperate Cohen was pressuring her to agree to mediation and told a friend of hers that Lynch was "the love of his life." She and Cohen had had a brief affair in 1990, but Cohen now was offering her 50% of his "community property" as well as "palimony" through lawyer Robert Kory at a meeting attended by Lynch's legal representatives and her accountant, Dale Burgess. To Lynch, none of this made sense at the time.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles District Attorney's office received an anonymous tip informing them that Lynch was a friend of producer Phil Spector, whom Lynch maintains is innocent. Cohen, on the other hand, had given an interview in which he described a gun-waving Spector who threatened him during recording sessions in 1977.
At around the same time he was offering her “millions”, Lynch says, Cohen was also circulating slanderous stories about her. She believes Cohen encouraged Los Angeles record producer Steve Lindsey, the father of her son Ray, to initiate a custody suit – on May 25, 2005, the same day a 25-man SWAT team from the LAPD, acting on a bogus 911 call, suddenly cordoned off her street and surrounded her home in response to a "hostage taking."
Earlier that morning, Lynch says, her 12 year old son Ray woke up not feeling well. She sent an email to his school informing them she was keeping him at home. When the boy's father found out Ray was home he became agitated and abusive over the phone to Lynch.
Lynch says she had young people who worked for her coming and going that day, and did not want Ray’s father coming to the house and attacking her, as he had in the past. She called her older son Rutger, who was visiting a friend nearby, and asked him to pick Ray up and take him down the hill where actress Cloris Leachman waited in her car. Leachman, a friend of Lindsey, took charge of Ray – just as seven LAPD squad cars came speeding up Mandeville Canyon Road in the direction of Lynch’s house. With them was Ray’s father, Steve Lindsey.
Lynch says she looked out the window and saw armed men on her lawn. Her son Rutger and his friends were telling police there was no hostage-taking, that they had spent the morning with Lynch, and that there must be some mistake. For reasons no one understands, LAPD/Inglewood PD decided to believe Steve Lindsey, who had left the scene.
Police later gave varying explanations about what led up to the incident. West LAPD said they responded to a report that someone heard "shots fired." But a company that oversees SWAT said Lynch would have to have a superior caliber weapon to warrant such a high risk entry. A member of the SWAT team claimed to have seen a note that Lynch’s sister had placed the call stating Lynch posed “a danger to herself and everyone around her.” Her sister denies this.
Lynch stayed inside her house and called her former custody lawyer, Lee Kanon Alpert. She also called Leonard Cohen, assuming he had played a role in the events unfolding on her lawn. Lynch says she knew Steve Lindsey had also been meeting with Cohen and his attorney, and had recently told their son Ray that Lynch was “going to jail,” upsetting the boy. She says Cohen taped the phone call later used in his successful court case against her – for which, Lynch says, she never received a summons.
Earlier that morning, Lynch says, her 12 year old son Ray woke up not feeling well. She sent an email to his school informing them she was keeping him at home. When the boy's father found out Ray was home he became agitated and abusive over the phone to Lynch.
Lynch says she had young people who worked for her coming and going that day, and did not want Ray’s father coming to the house and attacking her, as he had in the past. She called her older son Rutger, who was visiting a friend nearby, and asked him to pick Ray up and take him down the hill where actress Cloris Leachman waited in her car. Leachman, a friend of Lindsey, took charge of Ray – just as seven LAPD squad cars came speeding up Mandeville Canyon Road in the direction of Lynch’s house. With them was Ray’s father, Steve Lindsey.
Lynch says she looked out the window and saw armed men on her lawn. Her son Rutger and his friends were telling police there was no hostage-taking, that they had spent the morning with Lynch, and that there must be some mistake. For reasons no one understands, LAPD/Inglewood PD decided to believe Steve Lindsey, who had left the scene.
Police later gave varying explanations about what led up to the incident. West LAPD said they responded to a report that someone heard "shots fired." But a company that oversees SWAT said Lynch would have to have a superior caliber weapon to warrant such a high risk entry. A member of the SWAT team claimed to have seen a note that Lynch’s sister had placed the call stating Lynch posed “a danger to herself and everyone around her.” Her sister denies this.
Lynch stayed inside her house and called her former custody lawyer, Lee Kanon Alpert. She also called Leonard Cohen, assuming he had played a role in the events unfolding on her lawn. Lynch says she knew Steve Lindsey had also been meeting with Cohen and his attorney, and had recently told their son Ray that Lynch was “going to jail,” upsetting the boy. She says Cohen taped the phone call later used in his successful court case against her – for which, Lynch says, she never received a summons.
Lynch says, “Police were on my hillside and crouching under my kitchen window.” She says the standoff on her lawn continued for several more hours, disrupting the neighbourhood. Members of Inglewood Police Department also participated in the operation.
Eventually, she decided to go into the back yard. Seeing her son Rutger acting as a “human shield and hostage negotiator,” Lynch ventured out front with her Akita on leash and joked to the cops: "Who am I supposed to be holding hostage? My dog?"
The police responded by telling her son they would only shoot Lynch and her dog if necessary.
“That was when I dove into the pool.”
SWAT team members searched her house. As they entered, Lynch's African Grey parrot, Lou, called out: "I see dead people!" – further alarming the nervous cops.
Offering her a hand out of the pool, one officer said they were only there to help her and not to hurt her.
“No one asked me if I was all right; no one questioned me about my well-being.” The Medical Examiners Office later wondered how the police had evaluated her. After stating they were not arresting her, they handcuffed Lynch, still in her bikini. On her way out the door, her son managed to hand her a brocade jacket.
Although she lived near UCLA Medical Center, she was taken in a squad car to King-Drew Medical Centre in Watts, 40 miles away and a three-hour drive in traffic. Known as one of America’s worst hospitals, King-Drew was recently closed down as a place where patients routinely die from neglect and medical errors. During the long ride through South Central Los Angeles, Lynch says she was questioned closely about her relationship with Phil Spector, who had been charged with first degree murder of Lana Clarkson. In the car, Lynch voiced concern over what awaited her at the hospital but was told by a woman cop: "This will be good for you."
“I felt I was being kidnapped”.
At Emergency, the admitting psychiatrist administered anti-psychotic drugs without authorization and left Lynch in the waiting area for hours, still in her bikini and brocade jacket, and handcuffed to a chair. A nurse advised her she would be transferred – but did not tell her where. Examining her file, the nurse noticed it listed her as 19 years old with wrong social security number, wrong date of birth, wrong religion, and her name misspelled as "Kelly Lynch" Lynch thinks it was the same file she had seen, several months earlier, in the hands of the Special Investigator who came to question her about Spector.
A second doctor told her to wait her turn to ensure no further harm would come to her, and assured her that nothing in the King Drew report could cause her to lose custody of her child. The following day, she was released after nearly 24 hours in the psych ward.
Back home, Lynch learned that while she was being held at the hospital her younger son's father, Steven Clark Lindsey, had filed for custody of her son Ray Charles Lindsey and obtained a restraining order denying her access to the boy. She says Lindsey attempted to convince doctors at King Drew that she was dangerous, in order to have her committed, She says Lindsey also threatened the psychiatrist who had her released.
The police responded by telling her son they would only shoot Lynch and her dog if necessary.
“That was when I dove into the pool.”
SWAT team members searched her house. As they entered, Lynch's African Grey parrot, Lou, called out: "I see dead people!" – further alarming the nervous cops.
Offering her a hand out of the pool, one officer said they were only there to help her and not to hurt her.
“No one asked me if I was all right; no one questioned me about my well-being.” The Medical Examiners Office later wondered how the police had evaluated her. After stating they were not arresting her, they handcuffed Lynch, still in her bikini. On her way out the door, her son managed to hand her a brocade jacket.
Although she lived near UCLA Medical Center, she was taken in a squad car to King-Drew Medical Centre in Watts, 40 miles away and a three-hour drive in traffic. Known as one of America’s worst hospitals, King-Drew was recently closed down as a place where patients routinely die from neglect and medical errors. During the long ride through South Central Los Angeles, Lynch says she was questioned closely about her relationship with Phil Spector, who had been charged with first degree murder of Lana Clarkson. In the car, Lynch voiced concern over what awaited her at the hospital but was told by a woman cop: "This will be good for you."
“I felt I was being kidnapped”.
At Emergency, the admitting psychiatrist administered anti-psychotic drugs without authorization and left Lynch in the waiting area for hours, still in her bikini and brocade jacket, and handcuffed to a chair. A nurse advised her she would be transferred – but did not tell her where. Examining her file, the nurse noticed it listed her as 19 years old with wrong social security number, wrong date of birth, wrong religion, and her name misspelled as "Kelly Lynch" Lynch thinks it was the same file she had seen, several months earlier, in the hands of the Special Investigator who came to question her about Spector.
A second doctor told her to wait her turn to ensure no further harm would come to her, and assured her that nothing in the King Drew report could cause her to lose custody of her child. The following day, she was released after nearly 24 hours in the psych ward.
Back home, Lynch learned that while she was being held at the hospital her younger son's father, Steven Clark Lindsey, had filed for custody of her son Ray Charles Lindsey and obtained a restraining order denying her access to the boy. She says Lindsey attempted to convince doctors at King Drew that she was dangerous, in order to have her committed, She says Lindsey also threatened the psychiatrist who had her released.
On that same day, Cohen’s attorney Robert Kory filed a Declaration in the custody matter, as did Betsy Superfon (a friend of Cohen, Kory and Lindsey who had befriended Lynch a few months earlier ). Superfon later told Lynch she didn't realize what she was signing, and that Cohen had offered Lindsey money “or something else” to take Ray away from Lynch.
Her older son alleges Lindsey offered him money to go to Leonard Cohen's lawyer's office and transfer or sign over Lynch’s house to Cohen or his attorney Robert Kory. Rutger refused and phoned his own father, who advised him to contact a lawyer.
Two weeks later, in early June, as she drove down her street to buy dog food, a Mercedes sped out of a neighbouring driveway and rear-ended her car, Lynch was thrown forward, fracturing her nose against the steering well, and was knocked unconscious. Later, she says, as she drove back up the hill to her home, the same driver was standing in his driveway and called out: “We are watching you” as she passed.
Seeing his injured, bleeding mother enter the house, her older son again phoned his father, who may have called 911. Accounts vary as whether the call referred to an incident of "domestic violence" or a "drug overdose." Either way, police arrived at Lynch’s door for the second time in two weeks. Over the protests of her son, they entered while she was on the phone to a friend, Dr. Wendi Knaak who stayed on the phone talking with Rutger while police again handcuffed Lynch. This time they took her to UCLA hospital where her obvious head injuries were ignored. Instead, she was once again drugged and placed in the psychiatric unit where she remained for several days.
Lynch and her advisors maintain these events were coordinated by Cohen, Kory and Lindsey, with the help of former LA District Attorney Ira Reiner in a well- orchestrated plan to traumatize and discredit her – paving the way for media stories which accused her of skimming millions from Cohen’s retirement fund.
In the summer of 2005, as Lynch was struggling to save her home and protect her child from a father her friends describe as "viciously anti-social" and “violent”, reports of Leonard Cohen's financial troubles hit the press. They alleged the 70-something singer had been scammed by his personal manager, Kelley Lynch, who colluded with an advisor at the AGILE Group in Colorado to send him false financial statements while emptying his accounts of millions of dollars.
Although listed as the owner of Traditional Holdings, the entity in question, Lynch says she never received any statements from the AGILE Group -- who instead had been sending them to Cohen -- having changed her mailing address to Cohen's home in Los Angeles. She has since filed a complaint with the US Post Office for mail tampering.
She insists Cohen sued her because she went to the IRS about his tax situation. She says he is not, and never was, "broke" and that missing funds went to buy homes for his son Adam Cohen and girlfriend, singer Anjani Thomas, ex-wife of Robert Kory. Noting Cohen is famous for his financial largesse and once gave Zen Master Sasaki Roshi $500,000 as a gift, Lynch also cites hefty payments to advisers, various transaction fees, personal taxes, and other monies which may have been sent offshore.
While Cohen and Lindsey attempted to persuade others, including LA Superior Court, that she intended to flee to Tibet or another non-extradition country, Lynch was isolated and penniless and still in Los Angeles. Lynch was former personal secretary to the late Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a flamboyant Tibetan spiritual teacher who founded Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado in the 1970s, and died in 1987. She says various Tibetan lamas are praying for her safety.
Journalists covering the story were either unable, or didn't bother, to track Lynch down, and most reported Cohen's statements as fact. The NY Times contacted Kelley for a quote which they never printed
By July 2005, Lynch had lost her custody battle and Ray went to live with his father. On December 28, she and Rutger were evicted from the house in Brentwood, and ended up homeless in Santa Monica, which has no resources for the homeless. The Police Department gave her no help and, she claims, laughed when she brought in evidence that she was being stalked by a known serial killer while she camped on the beach.
In 2006, Cohen was awarded a symbolic $9 million settlement in a civil suit against Lynch, who still does not have a lawyer representing her. Corporate books and other evidence of fraud appear to have been overlooked by Judge Ken Freeman in his judgment, Lynch says, although she admits she has not read the court documents and was never served a summons. At the time of the decision, she told reporters she lacked the money to make a phone call. That same year, her older son lost his fingers in an accident with a meat grinder while he was working at Whole Foods in Los Angeles and Lynch could not afford a bus ticket to visit him in hospital.
Lynch heard through a journalist that Cohen later testified for the District Attorney’s office in a secret grand jury relating to the Phil Spector case with former District Attorney Ira Reiner acting as his lawyer. Reiner is a personal friend of Cohen, and as D.A. presided over some high-profile cases including the “Night Stalker” serial killer and the McMartin Day Care scandal.
Recently, on June 17, 2008, Cohen's lawsuit against the Agile Group was thrown out of court for lack of evidence. In response the AGILE Group dropped its counter-suit accusing Cohen of defamation and fraud. AGILE still claims to be shocked that a singer of Leonard Cohen's talent and stature would engage in false accusations against his own representatives.
Lynch believes Cohen and AGILE colluded to defraud her. She continues to deny all allegations against her, and remains hopeful that Phil Spector's lawyer, Bruce Cutler, will represent her in recouping damages to her livelihood and reputation. She now lives in another state and recently learned her younger son, 15, whom she has not seen since July 2005, stopped attending school last January.
These days Cohen’s fans seem to have expended their rage at Kelley Lynch for driving their idol into bankruptcy. Some now say she unwittingly did them a service -- by forcing him to go on tour for the first time in nearly two decades.
At 74, singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen continues to ride a wave of sympathy, gathering wide support from the music world and even some British royalty. Unquestionably, his career and finances have benefited from news reports that he is too impoverished to retire.
From his tower of song, Cohen has written:
I smile when I'm angry
I cheat and I lie
I do what I have to do
To get by
And I’m always alone
And my heart is like ice
And it’s crowded and cold
In my secret life
My Secret Life. Leonard Cohen
His many admirers need to listen closely.
Her older son alleges Lindsey offered him money to go to Leonard Cohen's lawyer's office and transfer or sign over Lynch’s house to Cohen or his attorney Robert Kory. Rutger refused and phoned his own father, who advised him to contact a lawyer.
Two weeks later, in early June, as she drove down her street to buy dog food, a Mercedes sped out of a neighbouring driveway and rear-ended her car, Lynch was thrown forward, fracturing her nose against the steering well, and was knocked unconscious. Later, she says, as she drove back up the hill to her home, the same driver was standing in his driveway and called out: “We are watching you” as she passed.
Seeing his injured, bleeding mother enter the house, her older son again phoned his father, who may have called 911. Accounts vary as whether the call referred to an incident of "domestic violence" or a "drug overdose." Either way, police arrived at Lynch’s door for the second time in two weeks. Over the protests of her son, they entered while she was on the phone to a friend, Dr. Wendi Knaak who stayed on the phone talking with Rutger while police again handcuffed Lynch. This time they took her to UCLA hospital where her obvious head injuries were ignored. Instead, she was once again drugged and placed in the psychiatric unit where she remained for several days.
Lynch and her advisors maintain these events were coordinated by Cohen, Kory and Lindsey, with the help of former LA District Attorney Ira Reiner in a well- orchestrated plan to traumatize and discredit her – paving the way for media stories which accused her of skimming millions from Cohen’s retirement fund.
In the summer of 2005, as Lynch was struggling to save her home and protect her child from a father her friends describe as "viciously anti-social" and “violent”, reports of Leonard Cohen's financial troubles hit the press. They alleged the 70-something singer had been scammed by his personal manager, Kelley Lynch, who colluded with an advisor at the AGILE Group in Colorado to send him false financial statements while emptying his accounts of millions of dollars.
Although listed as the owner of Traditional Holdings, the entity in question, Lynch says she never received any statements from the AGILE Group -- who instead had been sending them to Cohen -- having changed her mailing address to Cohen's home in Los Angeles. She has since filed a complaint with the US Post Office for mail tampering.
She insists Cohen sued her because she went to the IRS about his tax situation. She says he is not, and never was, "broke" and that missing funds went to buy homes for his son Adam Cohen and girlfriend, singer Anjani Thomas, ex-wife of Robert Kory. Noting Cohen is famous for his financial largesse and once gave Zen Master Sasaki Roshi $500,000 as a gift, Lynch also cites hefty payments to advisers, various transaction fees, personal taxes, and other monies which may have been sent offshore.
While Cohen and Lindsey attempted to persuade others, including LA Superior Court, that she intended to flee to Tibet or another non-extradition country, Lynch was isolated and penniless and still in Los Angeles. Lynch was former personal secretary to the late Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a flamboyant Tibetan spiritual teacher who founded Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado in the 1970s, and died in 1987. She says various Tibetan lamas are praying for her safety.
Journalists covering the story were either unable, or didn't bother, to track Lynch down, and most reported Cohen's statements as fact. The NY Times contacted Kelley for a quote which they never printed
By July 2005, Lynch had lost her custody battle and Ray went to live with his father. On December 28, she and Rutger were evicted from the house in Brentwood, and ended up homeless in Santa Monica, which has no resources for the homeless. The Police Department gave her no help and, she claims, laughed when she brought in evidence that she was being stalked by a known serial killer while she camped on the beach.
In 2006, Cohen was awarded a symbolic $9 million settlement in a civil suit against Lynch, who still does not have a lawyer representing her. Corporate books and other evidence of fraud appear to have been overlooked by Judge Ken Freeman in his judgment, Lynch says, although she admits she has not read the court documents and was never served a summons. At the time of the decision, she told reporters she lacked the money to make a phone call. That same year, her older son lost his fingers in an accident with a meat grinder while he was working at Whole Foods in Los Angeles and Lynch could not afford a bus ticket to visit him in hospital.
Lynch heard through a journalist that Cohen later testified for the District Attorney’s office in a secret grand jury relating to the Phil Spector case with former District Attorney Ira Reiner acting as his lawyer. Reiner is a personal friend of Cohen, and as D.A. presided over some high-profile cases including the “Night Stalker” serial killer and the McMartin Day Care scandal.
Recently, on June 17, 2008, Cohen's lawsuit against the Agile Group was thrown out of court for lack of evidence. In response the AGILE Group dropped its counter-suit accusing Cohen of defamation and fraud. AGILE still claims to be shocked that a singer of Leonard Cohen's talent and stature would engage in false accusations against his own representatives.
Lynch believes Cohen and AGILE colluded to defraud her. She continues to deny all allegations against her, and remains hopeful that Phil Spector's lawyer, Bruce Cutler, will represent her in recouping damages to her livelihood and reputation. She now lives in another state and recently learned her younger son, 15, whom she has not seen since July 2005, stopped attending school last January.
These days Cohen’s fans seem to have expended their rage at Kelley Lynch for driving their idol into bankruptcy. Some now say she unwittingly did them a service -- by forcing him to go on tour for the first time in nearly two decades.
At 74, singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen continues to ride a wave of sympathy, gathering wide support from the music world and even some British royalty. Unquestionably, his career and finances have benefited from news reports that he is too impoverished to retire.
From his tower of song, Cohen has written:
I smile when I'm angry
I cheat and I lie
I do what I have to do
To get by
And I’m always alone
And my heart is like ice
And it’s crowded and cold
In my secret life
My Secret Life. Leonard Cohen
His many admirers need to listen closely.
Kelley Lynch
419 N. Larchmont Blvd., Suite 91
Los Angeles, California 90004
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Office of Chief Trial Counsel
Small Business/Self Employed Division Counsel
3018 Federal Building
300 N. Los Angeles Street
Los Angeles, California 90012
Re: Leonard Cohen vs. Commissioner (Docket No. 7024-02)
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing with respect to the above referenced Trial Court case and related matters. I am Leonard Cohen’s personal manager and have an ownership interest in three entities with him. Those entities are Blue Mist Touring Company, Inc., Traditional Holdings, LLC, and Old Ideas, LLC. These three entities either own or sold intellectual property.
For the year 1999, Sony Music issued a 1099 to Leonard Cohen in the sum of $1 million. On January 8, 2002, IRS issued Letter No. 3219 (SC/CG) to Leonard Cohen for the year ending December 31, 1999 showing a deficiency in connection with tax form 1040. This situation was initially handled by Leonard Cohen’s personal tax and corporate attorney, Richard Westin, who then referred Cohen to Hochman Rettig.
I became particularly concerned with respect to the conduct of Leonard Cohen and his representatives in January and February 2002. The reason for this is due to hysteria that arose in connection with the “inadvertent” 1099s Sony issued to Leonard Cohen personally in the amounts of $1 million and $7 million respectively. Leonard Cohen’s tax accountant wrote and advised him that he shuddered to think of the penalties and interest due. Leonard Cohen called his tax accountant after receiving his letter to discuss the matter. This matter was then discussed, both telephonically and in emails, with Leonard Cohen, Richard Westin, and Neal Greenberg (Cohen’s financial adviser and investor). These 1099s related to a deal that Sony pursued which closed in 2001.
What concerns me specifically is the fact that the Sony deal was done with Traditional Holdings, LLC and not Leonard Cohen. The $1 million non-refundable prepayment should have either been paid to Traditional Holdings, LLC or transferred to Traditional Holdings, LLC. To complicate matters even further, the assets that were sold to Sony belong to Blue Mist Touring Company, Inc. and were not assigned to Traditional Holdings, LLC. The reason for this is due to the fact that, while Sony initially pursued this deal with Blue Mist Touring Company, Inc. (and began their due diligence with that entity), Cohen’s accountant and tax lawyer raised issues related to collapsible corporations. Richard Westin represents Leonard Cohen. He does not represent me or the entities themselves. I did provide Westin with a very limited power of attorney authorizing him to prepare and file the Traditional Holdings, LLC formation documents with the State of Kentucky. I also agreed, after Cohen instructed him to do so, to permit Richard Westin to prepare my Indemnity Agreement with respect to my investment in Traditional Holdings, LLC via a promissory note. I do not understand how an individual invests in a company via a promissory note and, at the same time, receives distributions with which to the payments. I am enclosing Richard Westin’s March 6, 2002 letter summarizing this matter. I specifically requested that he write this letter to avoid any future confusion between me and Leonard Cohen. According to the corporate records, I receive $20,000 and $24,000 which pays the promissory note and taxes. I also receive $240,000 year (from profits) to pay whatever taxes Westin advises are due with respect to Traditional Holdings, LLC. Richard Westin handles the Traditional Holdings, LLC tax returns and prepares the K-1s. While I am to receive 100% of the profit (and this was the agreed upon amount Cohen and Westin arrived at), I am unable to obtain financial statements and/or profit and loss statements from Neal Greenberg. And, while Richard Westin and Neal Greenberg are supposed to handle all loan documentation (Greenberg would have those details), most of Leonard Cohen’s loans (totaling millions) from Traditional Holdings, LLC remain undocumented. I would also like to note that Neal Greenberg’s financial statements are incoherent and originally co-mingled Leonard Cohen’s personal accounts; his charitable remainder trusts; and the Traditional Holdings, LLC accounts on one statement prepared for Leonard Cohen personally. Greenberg also provides a courtesy monthly email that includes the loans which he and Westin have repeatedly confirmed are assets of Traditional Holdings, LLC. I am alarmed by the complete lack of attention to corporate governance. I also enclose herewith Neal Greenberg’s January and June 2004 letters to Leonard Cohen raising “IRS warnings” and dangers. I’ve reviewed these letters with Leonard Cohen and he advised me not to inform Neal Greenberg of any future income. That would include the studio album that will be delivered; his plans to tour behind that album; and the third intellectual property deal we are pursuing. That deal is also complicated because Leonard Cohen is once again demanding unattractive stock deals. Leonard Cohen continually advises me that he does not want to pay ordinary income taxes. I find these comments alarming in light of some of the other activity.
I have no expertise in IRS or tax matters and find a great deal of the discussions about tax matters thoroughly confusing if not downright deranged. Some of the information I receive is incoherent. I do not handle IRS, tax, accounting, financial, investing, legal or inadvertent 1099 matters. I also do not handle financial statements, financial reports, loan documents, or promissory notes. Leonard Cohen has a team of professional representatives handling those matters. I am enclosing an email dated February 12, 2002 between me, Leonard Cohen, and Richard Westin that is self-explanatory and addresses some of my concerns.
On January 17, 2003, Hochman Rettig wrote David R. Jojola of the Los Angeles Office of the Chief Trial Counsel. This matter was handled by Steve Blanq at Hochman Rettig. I had concerns about Traditional Holdings, LLC and the private annuity agreement. I am enclosing many of the corporate records for these entities; the Annuity Agreement; and my Indemnity Agreement. I am also enclosing the stock certificates, non-revocable assignments, and other documentation related to my ownership interest in Blue Mist Touring Company, Inc., Traditional Holdings, LLC, and Old Ideas, LLC which was formed in June 2004 in Delaware (by Richard Westin) and owns the intellectual property associated with Cohen’s forthcoming studio album.
After I addressed my concerns with Steve Blanq, I sent him some of the Traditional Holdings, LLC documents and the Annuity Agreement. I then mentioned to Richard Westin that I spoke to Steve Blanq about these matters. I received a phone call from Steve Blanq advising me that he spoke to Richard Westin who informed him that I do not have attorney/client privilege and therefore Steve Blanq may not discuss these matters with me. Given the fact that I have an ownership interest in Traditional Holdings, LLC, I find that statement alarming. Leonard Cohen personally wrote Richard Westin and Neal Greenberg wrapping them in attorney/client privilege and excluding me.
Hochman Rettig’s letter addressed the factual and legal analysis of the Cohen v. Commisioner matter (Docket No. 7024-02) as follows: “Leonard Cohen, through his representatives, began negotiations in 1999 with Sony Music International ("SMI") for a buyout of his SMI master recordings catalog. In an effort to secure that SMI was serious about the buyout and to secure future performance, Mr. Cohen demanded a deposit of $1,000,000. Ultimately, SMI agreed to this request and on November 5, 1999, wired Mr. Cohen $1,000,000. Accompanying the wire transfer was a Ietter dated November 5, 1999 which is attached hereto as Exhibit A. The letter from Paul Gilbert of SMI provides: ‘This amount is deemed a partial prepayment against the proposed $8 million buy-out of Leonard's future royalty interests in his master recordings and compositions under all of his agreements with Sony Music and Sony/ATV.’ The factual basis for treatment as a deposit is further supported by Mr. Gilbert's letter dated April 1, 2002 (attached hereto as Exhibit B) which provides: ‘. . . this letter is to confirm that the $ 1,000,000 paid to you by Sony Music Entertainment, Inc. (“SMEI") in November of 1999 was a deposit towards a possible royalty buyout …’”
This is not my understanding with respect to the $1 million prepayment. I would like to keep this letter confidential because I am convinced that I would lose my job if Leonard Cohen, or his representatives, were to find out that I contacted IRS. There has been so much paranoia and hysteria on the part of Leonard Cohen and his representatives over this matter that I can conclude nothing other than some type of egregious tax fraud has occurred.
The history of this deal, and specifically the $1 million non-refundable prepayment, actually began when Leonard Cohen actively began pursuing intellectual property deals. He closed the first deal, with Stranger Music, Inc., in 1996. He then actively began pursuing other intellectual property which included a possible bond securitization deal. As of November 1999, Leonard Cohen planned to close a bond securitization deal with CAK. In order to pursue that deal, Cohen formed LC Investments, LLC. CAK demanded a bankruptcy proof entity. However, SOCAN (the Canadian performing rights society) refused to pay writer share of royalties to a company not owned 100% by the writer, Leonard Cohen. Therefore, it was decided and agreed (by Cohen and his representatives) that LC Investments, LLC would collect the SOCAN royalties. These assets are owned by Blue Mist Touring Company, Inc. which is true for all intellectual property excluding the forthcoming the intellectual property related to the forthcoming studio album that will be delivered to Sony in the near future. I am enclosing Leonard Cohen’s declaration in the CAK litigation that ensued and IRS can review the CAK litigation documents that were filed in the Southern District of New York (Docket No. 1:00-cv-01068-CBM).
What concerns me about the letter Hochman Rettig wrote is this paragraph: The legal authority is derived from the Supreme Court decision in Commissioner v. Indianapolis Power & Light Co., 493 U-S. 203, I 10 S. Ct. 589 (1990). The Court created a distinction between the taxation of advance payments and the taxation of refundable deposits, although the Court confirmed that advance payments are generally taxable and defined "advance payment" as a non-refundable payment. The Court, however, held that deposits are not taxable. The Court defined "deposits" as refundable payments that are made to secure the payor's performance of its legal obligations under the contract. Please note that the Court also found that a deposit is not taxable even if the payor elects to apply the deposit against amounts owed to the payee. Thus, if the payor fulfills its obligations under the contract, the deposit is refunded. That is the exact scenario presented in this matter. This analysis is also consistent with the United States Tax Court's longstanding treatment of real estate lease deposits where the Court has distinguished between a sum designated as a prepayment of rent (taxable upon receipt) and a sum deposited to secure the tenant's performance of a lease agreement. J & E Enterprises, Inc, v. Commissioner.”
The reason this paragraph concerns me is that Sony personally contacted me about pursuing the 2001 intellectual property deal with Leonard Cohen. Stuart Bondell, Sony Music Business Affairs, explained to me that Sony did not want Leonard Cohen pursuing a bond securitization deal. Evidently they had concerns about establishing artist precedent for these types of deal and were specifically concerned about not having the ability to pay artist record advances. As Stuart Bondell explained, advances are the currency of the music industry and permit Sony (and others) to encourage artists to submit their contractually obligated albums. I phoned Leonard Cohen and explained that Sony wanted to pursue the intellectual property deal with him. Cohen was somewhat worried that Sony was making an offer and could later change their minds. Therefore, he advised me that he would be willing to forfeit the CAK bond securitization deal if Sony paid him a substantial non-refundable prepayment against the $8 million deal price. The contractual details had to be resolved and negotiated. I phoned Stuart Bondell back and passed along Cohen’s message and Sony agreed to pay the $1 million non-refundable prepayment Cohen requested. Therefore, from my perspective, Cohen received $1 million in income from Sony in 1999. However, the assets were owned by Blue Mist Touring Company, Inc. at the time. As of 2001, Richard Westin had formed Traditional Holdings, LLC who ultimately pursued the stock deal Leonard Cohen personally demanded.
Your October 8, 2002 letter to Richard Westin requests all documents related to the $1 million payment including correspondence, contracts, agreements, royalty obligations, loan documents, emails, letters, and checks. While I am enclosing a substantial amount of evidence, IRS would literally have to make arrangements to come into my management offices and go through the files. They are voluminous and include the corporate files and corporate books and records. While I am not involved with this IRS and/or Tax Court matter at all, I do believe that information is being concealed from the IRS and that makes me extremely uncomfortable.
It was my understanding that Richard Westin and Ken Cleveland, Cohen’s accountant, decided to handle the $1 million as a loan on Cohen’s personal tax return. I was not involved in that discussion but was on a conference call when they two of them confirmed this and asked me to call Leonard Cohen to see if he agreed. I then phoned Leonard Cohen personally; he confirmed that he wanted the $1 million handled as a loan; and I called Westin and Cleveland back and confirmed this with them.
This essentially sums up my concerns about the $1 million prepayment; $7 million inadvertent 1099s; and the fact that the assets are owned by Blue Mist Touring Company, Inc. Initially, after the non-revocable assignments were executed by Cohen and me, Richard Westin advised us to begin depositing all royalty income to Blue Mist Touring Company, Inc. At a later date, he advised me (and some of this is in writing) that those deposits should be explained as inadvertent. This situation also causes me concern because the income was deposited to Blue Mist Touring Company, Inc. and Westin determined that Leonard Cohen personally should issue the 1099s. Richard Westin also advised me to rip up the SOCAN and writer share assignments with respect to Blue Mist Touring Company, Inc. I took copies home and enclose copies herewith.
Another ongoing issue relates to where the offices for these entities are. There are no offices. I have continuously advised Richard Westin that my personal management offices are not the corporate entities’ offices. These entities use my P.O. Box for their corporate office addresses. Traditional Holdings, LLC’s corporate office is listed as Richard Westin’s home address in Kentucky. Most of these entities are Delaware entities. I do not know why Leonard Cohen and his representatives decided to form Traditional Holdings, LLC in Kentucky. I am enclosing letters Richard Westin prepared for Leonard Cohen and me with respect to the initial proposals with respect to the use of an annuity. Leonard Cohen rejected the first proposal and did not want his adult children involved in any entity he has an ownership interest in.
Please see evidence enclosed.
Thank you for your attention to this matter and, if I uncover additional information, I will submit that to Internal Revenue Service as well.
