June 2, 2009At age 72 music legend Leonard Cohen was on the verge of enjoying a comfortable retirement funded by what he thought was a generous nest egg, only to find out that what he assumed was a retirement account balance of some $9 million had dwindled to a sum less than a hundred thousand dollars.
Granted, Cohen was not exactly “hands-on” with his finances during the period leading up to this unfortunate epiphany—he spent the 4 years preceding this Suzy-Orman-esque moment on an extended spiritual retreat, and had delegated unfettered control over his financial affairs to what Cohen viewed as a close friend, former lover, and trusted advisor.
After some initial reluctance—but after being advised that the tax consequences of inaction (owing taxes on money someone else allegedly made off with) might be less-than-appealing, Cohen, through his Beverly Hills attorneys, sued his former business manager Kelley Lynch, winning a $7.9 million California state court judgment against her in an uncontested default proceeding.
For the record, Lynch now claims that she either was never properly served with the suit or that the multi-million dollar money judgment entered against her “incriminates” Cohen in a scheme that she describes in her frequent blog posts and Cohen discussion board comments as Cohen’s “fraudulent” attempt to cover up his multi-million dollar theft from her.
In any event, Lynch has no intention of attempting to set the judgment aside—preferring to characterize the judgment as Cohen falling into her tactical trap. (As Lynch recently stated about this reporter in an email copied to the IRS, The Justice Department, several high profile criminal defense attorneys who do not represent her, the governor of Colorado and a laundry list of other government and law enforcement officials too numerous to mention here: “What is it about I have no intention of setting the [$7.9 million] judgment aside that [Joff Belark] does not understand?”)
What the May 12, 2006 judgment does, though, is legally establish the basic truth of Cohen’s core allegations against his former manager: That his financial losses were due in substantial part to Lynch breaching her fiduciary duties to Cohen by, among other things, siphoning off his retirement funds for her own use and mismanaging his estate to generate commissions for herself. (For example, Cohen has alleged that even though he did not need the money, Lynch engineered the sale of all of the rights to Cohen’s songs—generating her a $1 million commission instead of the $100,000+ annual commission she typically earned as Cohen’s manager—which proceeds she then siphoned off for her own use while the singer song-writer was off meditating.)
The judgment also contains a finding that every dime previously held by Lynch through several Cohen related legal entities was held in trust for Leonard Cohen, as well as an injunction prohibiting Lynch from exercising any further dominion or control over those assets.
In the words of a Colorado federal judge who last year returned to Cohen $154,000 paid into court by a third party fiduciary in the face of Kelley Lynch’s conflicting claim for the money:
“On May 12, 2006, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, ruled on the issue of ownership of the funds, and entered default judgment in favor of Cohen and against Lynch in the amount of 7.3 million in damages and interest…In rendering judgment, the California court declared Lynch was ‘not the owner of any assets in Traditional Holdings, LLC’ and any interest Lynch had in ‘any other entity related to Cohen ... she [held] as trustee for Cohen's equitable title.’ The California court enjoined Lynch from interfering with Cohen's right to receive any such funds or property or in any other way exercising control over any funds or property related to Cohen. The California court ruling was not appealed and is now final. [Par.] The final judgment of the California court settles the dispute between Lynch and Cohen over ownership of the [$154,000].”
That settled it, right? Not exactly, in Lynch’s mind at least.
Lynch, undeterred, embarked on an alleged campaign to harass Cohen, as primarily evinced by a restraining order issued in favor of Cohen and against Lynch by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge.
At some point along the way, Lynch has stated in various internet posts that she was “kidnapped” by Los Angeles police officers and taken against her will to a Los Angeles County psychiatric facility where Lynch claims she was involuntarily held and drugged pursuant to a conspiracy on the part of Cohen, his lawyers, the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office, the LAPD, and others to discredit Lynch (who claims to have been a defense witness for Phil Spector in his murder case) and to protect Cohen from Lynch’s allegations that Cohen [allegedly] perjured himself in a “secret grand jury” proceeding in the Phil Spector matter--and that the psychiatric file, as well as the relevant police reports were later altered or substituted by police in furtherance of the alleged conspiracy against her.
In approximately 2007, Kelley Lynch moved to Boulder, Colorado where she has off and on reportedly been homeless. In addition, as Lynch stated today, and Blogonaut has independently confirmed, Lynch has in her words been “frequently arrested” by the Boulder Police Department (see booking photo, above). [Ed. Note--Lynch denies being homeless in Boulder, see below update, and stresses that a jury acquited her.]
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To be sure, Lynch attributes her arrests in Boulder to the continuing conspiracy to silence her, as she claims in various internet posts—including an email to the Department of Justice that Lynch published today requesting that the DOJ investigate why she has been "arrested with such frequency" in Boulder.
In 2008, Cohen again took Kelley Lynch to court, this time in Boulder, alleging—as with the earlier issued California restraining order—that Lynch was harassing him.
In 2008, Cohen again took Kelley Lynch to court, this time in Boulder, alleging—as with the earlier issued California restraining order—that Lynch was harassing him.
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For the record, Lynch has repeatedly stated that the September 2, 2008 restraining order was “fraudulently issued” after Cohen failed to have Lynch properly served with the petition—even though the official transcript of the hearing reflects that Lynch appeared at the hearing (and after initially asking for a contested hearing and spending a few minutes on the witness stand being gently grilled by Cohen’s Colorado attorney) and requested herself that the court grant to Cohen the restraining order. In fact, the transcript reflects that Lynch told the judge that she "very much" wanted the order to be issued, and that Lynch thanked the judge "very much" after she granted Cohen the restraining order.
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Lynch--who was contacted by this reporter for comment --also asserted that the hearing transcript is inaccurate, that the court reporter who certified it should "look for another job" and that Lynch would be reviewing the transcript of the hearing "with Bruce Cutler".
Lynch has also blogged that the Colorado judge who presided over that hearing had no jurisdiction over her because Lynch previously reported Cohen to the IRS for [alleged] "tax fraud”, thereby (presumably) converting all pending and future legal matters initiated by Cohen into “IRS matters”. Indeed, Lynch has gone so far as to assert that the judge who issued the restraining order “lied” about Cohen’s routine civil harassment petition not being an “IRS matter”, and that she (the judge) was complicit with Cohen in the overarching conspiracy against Lynch and aided Cohen's [alleged] "fraud". Lynch has also stated the intention to sue the judge--along with other judges in California and Colorado who have ruled in favor of Cohen and against her.
That brings this reporter to another key assertion that has frustrated the multitude of internet discussion board commenters who have encountered Lynch on virtually every public on-line forum discussing either Cohen or Phil Spector: Beginning approximately two years ago, when Lynch was first asked by a reporter for comment on the $7.9 million California judgment against her—Lynch’s stock line has been that she is waiting to hear from her attorney of choice Bruce Cutler, and when she has had a chance to talk to Bruce Cutler, she will respond in due course.
The (to many) dubious assertion that a broke and homeless Kelley Lynch has any chance of enlisting a high profile New York City lawyer of Cutler’s stature to sue Leonard Cohen and a host of other declared enemies (including the four judges who to date have ruled against her) and other alleged co-conspirators—including the Boulder Police Department—for alleged violations of the Racketeer and Crime Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) (and other claims)--has led to serial derision by the message board commenting masses—which derision typically and predictably prompts Lynch to observe that the commenters on this or that blog, or this or that discussion group are all “insane” and/or are “cyber-stalking” her, at which point Lynch typically fires off another email to the IRS and/or the Justice Department—cc to governors, reporters, many of Phil Spector’s attorneys and former attorneys, and dozens of others—demanding that this or that blog or discussion group commenter be “investigated” for claiming that Bruce Cutler will never call her back. (Which, let's face it, after two+ years with no call back is not an unreasonable assertion.)
Indeed, just several Cohen fan comments into a discussion formed around a critic's favorable review of a recent Leonard Cohen performance published in the on-line version of the Hartford Currant, Kelley Lynch managed to hijack the discussion on May 13, 2009 by posting her usual scurrilous panoply of unsupported and presumed false accusations against Cohen (e.g., tax fraud, liar, stole millions from me, ruined my life, pervert, perjurer, plagiarist etc. etc. etc.)—resulting in a raging discussion spanning two weeks and over 160 comments—through today. (See link here.) (EDITOR'S. NOTE, ON 6/6/2009, the Hartford Currant, topix.com administrators shut down the discussion board and deleted the posts, it is presumed due to reader complaints about Lynch's postings there.)
For Cohen's loyal fans, as well as the casual observer, this is almost to much to bear—as many of the passionate foils to Lynch’s provocative and apparently libelous comments about Leonard Cohen demonstrate. Certainly, Lynch’s habit of, when challenged with specifics, accusing the commenter or blog host of “harassing”, "cyber-stalking" or “libeling” her, threatening to sue, then posting a copy of an email to the "Commissioner of IRS" or the "Justice Department" demanding an “investigation” of the commenter or blog—cc to high profile attorneys, governors, DA’s, police departments and reporters—does little to bolster Lynch’s credibility.
In addition, the very frequency of Lynch’s email rants to the IRS or Justice Department alone (sometimes three or more in a single day), in combination with her eccentric distribution list to many high profile government officials and attorneys (who must have better things to do with their time than investigate the identity of the guy who is posting as “anonymous” on this blog or that comment group or why (in a recent complaint) this reporter questioned why Lynch has been waiting for over two years to “hear from Bruce Cutler”) arguably suggests, if it does not scream, “nutcase”. Not to mention the fact that Lynch has demanded that the Justice Department "arrest" Phil Spector prosecutor Alan Jackson, and has also threatened the entire Boulder Police Department with criminal prosecution as well as a civil action under the RICO statute.
In the interest of full disclosure, the editor of this site recently banned Lynch from commenting here (as have several other websites) after its editor returned from a month long hiatus in Europe to find that this blog’s comments sections following several Phil Spector retrial posts had been similarly hijacked by Lynch through scores of posts—including many that Leonard Cohen’s California attorneys brought to Blogonaut’s attention as libelous per se (meaning Lynch accused Cohen of various alleged crimes without substantiation).
Lynch has also blogged that the Colorado judge who presided over that hearing had no jurisdiction over her because Lynch previously reported Cohen to the IRS for [alleged] "tax fraud”, thereby (presumably) converting all pending and future legal matters initiated by Cohen into “IRS matters”. Indeed, Lynch has gone so far as to assert that the judge who issued the restraining order “lied” about Cohen’s routine civil harassment petition not being an “IRS matter”, and that she (the judge) was complicit with Cohen in the overarching conspiracy against Lynch and aided Cohen's [alleged] "fraud". Lynch has also stated the intention to sue the judge--along with other judges in California and Colorado who have ruled in favor of Cohen and against her.
That brings this reporter to another key assertion that has frustrated the multitude of internet discussion board commenters who have encountered Lynch on virtually every public on-line forum discussing either Cohen or Phil Spector: Beginning approximately two years ago, when Lynch was first asked by a reporter for comment on the $7.9 million California judgment against her—Lynch’s stock line has been that she is waiting to hear from her attorney of choice Bruce Cutler, and when she has had a chance to talk to Bruce Cutler, she will respond in due course.
The (to many) dubious assertion that a broke and homeless Kelley Lynch has any chance of enlisting a high profile New York City lawyer of Cutler’s stature to sue Leonard Cohen and a host of other declared enemies (including the four judges who to date have ruled against her) and other alleged co-conspirators—including the Boulder Police Department—for alleged violations of the Racketeer and Crime Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) (and other claims)--has led to serial derision by the message board commenting masses—which derision typically and predictably prompts Lynch to observe that the commenters on this or that blog, or this or that discussion group are all “insane” and/or are “cyber-stalking” her, at which point Lynch typically fires off another email to the IRS and/or the Justice Department—cc to governors, reporters, many of Phil Spector’s attorneys and former attorneys, and dozens of others—demanding that this or that blog or discussion group commenter be “investigated” for claiming that Bruce Cutler will never call her back. (Which, let's face it, after two+ years with no call back is not an unreasonable assertion.)
Indeed, just several Cohen fan comments into a discussion formed around a critic's favorable review of a recent Leonard Cohen performance published in the on-line version of the Hartford Currant, Kelley Lynch managed to hijack the discussion on May 13, 2009 by posting her usual scurrilous panoply of unsupported and presumed false accusations against Cohen (e.g., tax fraud, liar, stole millions from me, ruined my life, pervert, perjurer, plagiarist etc. etc. etc.)—resulting in a raging discussion spanning two weeks and over 160 comments—through today. (See link here.) (EDITOR'S. NOTE, ON 6/6/2009, the Hartford Currant, topix.com administrators shut down the discussion board and deleted the posts, it is presumed due to reader complaints about Lynch's postings there.)
For Cohen's loyal fans, as well as the casual observer, this is almost to much to bear—as many of the passionate foils to Lynch’s provocative and apparently libelous comments about Leonard Cohen demonstrate. Certainly, Lynch’s habit of, when challenged with specifics, accusing the commenter or blog host of “harassing”, "cyber-stalking" or “libeling” her, threatening to sue, then posting a copy of an email to the "Commissioner of IRS" or the "Justice Department" demanding an “investigation” of the commenter or blog—cc to high profile attorneys, governors, DA’s, police departments and reporters—does little to bolster Lynch’s credibility.
In addition, the very frequency of Lynch’s email rants to the IRS or Justice Department alone (sometimes three or more in a single day), in combination with her eccentric distribution list to many high profile government officials and attorneys (who must have better things to do with their time than investigate the identity of the guy who is posting as “anonymous” on this blog or that comment group or why (in a recent complaint) this reporter questioned why Lynch has been waiting for over two years to “hear from Bruce Cutler”) arguably suggests, if it does not scream, “nutcase”. Not to mention the fact that Lynch has demanded that the Justice Department "arrest" Phil Spector prosecutor Alan Jackson, and has also threatened the entire Boulder Police Department with criminal prosecution as well as a civil action under the RICO statute.
In the interest of full disclosure, the editor of this site recently banned Lynch from commenting here (as have several other websites) after its editor returned from a month long hiatus in Europe to find that this blog’s comments sections following several Phil Spector retrial posts had been similarly hijacked by Lynch through scores of posts—including many that Leonard Cohen’s California attorneys brought to Blogonaut’s attention as libelous per se (meaning Lynch accused Cohen of various alleged crimes without substantiation).
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This banning led Lynch to, predictably, email the IRS and the Justice Department (cc to the usual multitude of household name Kelley Lynch rant email recipients) and to demand the investigation of this site. Lynch also threatened to sue Blogonaut for disparaging her—an allegation Blogonaut denies.
But in fairness to Kelley Lynch, and in aid of you, the internet going public, making up your own mind, we refer you to Kelley Lynch’s blog--where she republishes her rant emails to the IRS, Justice Department, Doron Weinberg, Bruce Cutler, as well as governors, police departments, prosecutors, and others daily—and were her scathing rebuttals to this post are sure to follow. (See here for Kelley Lynch's blog.)
As for Leonard Cohen, we observe that he has apparently decided to get on with his life, embarking earlier this year on a critically acclaimed and wildly successful world tour--choosing to stay above he fray of Lynch's ubiquitous, daily allegations with not a single blog comment of his own disparaging Lynch in reply. Class act, Cohen.
But in fairness to Kelley Lynch, and in aid of you, the internet going public, making up your own mind, we refer you to Kelley Lynch’s blog--where she republishes her rant emails to the IRS, Justice Department, Doron Weinberg, Bruce Cutler, as well as governors, police departments, prosecutors, and others daily—and were her scathing rebuttals to this post are sure to follow. (See here for Kelley Lynch's blog.)
As for Leonard Cohen, we observe that he has apparently decided to get on with his life, embarking earlier this year on a critically acclaimed and wildly successful world tour--choosing to stay above he fray of Lynch's ubiquitous, daily allegations with not a single blog comment of his own disparaging Lynch in reply. Class act, Cohen.
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UPDATE: Kelley Lynch Responds!
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We have received no less than five, lengthy attempted comments from Kelley Lynch regarding this post. In keeping with her status on this site, we will not publish any of them in the comments section here. (As expected, she has vowed to publish all five comments on her blog, and we expect her to submit additional comments as she stews over this post.)
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However, here are some of the tamer excerpts from Lynch’s remarks:
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We have received no less than five, lengthy attempted comments from Kelley Lynch regarding this post. In keeping with her status on this site, we will not publish any of them in the comments section here. (As expected, she has vowed to publish all five comments on her blog, and we expect her to submit additional comments as she stews over this post.)
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However, here are some of the tamer excerpts from Lynch’s remarks:
"Blogonaut, please note. I am conveying a copy of the comments I just posted to your Blog to the IRS Commissioner's Staff, the Department of Justice, Agent Kelly Sopko - Department of the Treasury, Doron Weinberg, Dennis Riordan, and bringing this to the attention of Bruce Cutler. What I do or do not communicate with Bruce Cutler is none of your business."No suprizes there. Lynch also stated:
“I refused to answer [Cohen’s] lawsuit because I chose, instead, to report his [alleged] tax fraud and/or [alleged] criminal conduct.”EDITOR’S NOTE—Cohen has never been accused by anyone, except Kelley Lynch, of “tax fraud” and we note that despite Lynch’s hundreds of communications over several years to the IRS reiterating that assertion, Cohen has never been arrested, indicted, or charged by any agency with any crime.
“The jury found that I did not obstruct a peace officer so draw your own conclusions. That is what I was charged with. Apart from that-it is none of your business...I have never been homeless in Boulder..."
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