Has he broken the law?

[help_2015]

Trying to help a friend of mine who has got himself into a bit of bother

 

He is an events manager, and runs events for a venue

 

The venue pay him and he in turn puts the nights on/ pays the acts etc,

he has never had any form of contract with them

- not sure if that makes a difference-

he ran 5 shows so far all of which he was praised for the quality of etc

 

A few months ago he was contacted by an agent of a big name act who offered to supply him with some very decent acts to try new material out

- at a higher level than he was currently,

he put this to the venue and they paid my friend to organise/ promote it,

they also paid for a range of 2016 shows.

The total of which came to £13500

 

The issue he had was at the same time baliffs etc have been visiting his home demanding money,

he used the above money to pay them and as a result does not have that money anymore.

 

 

He then discovered that the agent that promised the acts and he had the agreement with was doing so without the acts behalf

- he contacted an act who had no knowledge of it

- he contacted Action Fraud and has a reference number for it

 

Fast forward to a month later and he has had an email from the venue to say they are going to both the police and civil routes to recoup the money

as he has not used the funds for the intended purpose

 

He is in a position that he can repay in full within 3 months which they have rejected

 

Now obviously I dont for a second believe he booked it fraudulently and the fact he went straight to Action Fraud

I believe shows this but have they got a case against him with regards to him spending the money on the baliff company

, if the shows had gone ahead he would have been in a position to pay it all as planned by the time the nights came along

[unclebulgaria67]

Think it is a civil contract issue, as he is not an employee of the venue using their money. He was paid the money as a private contractor to perform an verbal contract, which he failed to do. The venue can sue him for breach of contract, which they may well win. A contract does not need to be in writing, but if it is just verbal, it makes it more difficult to enforce.

 

Your friend will end up in the same position again, with a CCJ and bailiffs looking to enforce. Perhaps they need to think whether they can continue to work as they are, as the entertainment trade is well known for such issues.

 

Best advice is for him to offer payment in writing, with a first payment made. Then it makes it more difficult to be taken to court, as he can evidence repayment was offered.

[ericsbrother]

unless the venue can prove that he knew the offer from the agent was all hot air then it is just a metter of the contractual obligation as above. No intent so no fraud (by your friend).

However, he is now out of the entertainment business as no-one will ever use him again.

[fletch70]

Much as the vast majority of advice on this and some other forums is first rate why not try to find a solicitor who will do a free initial consultation just to put his made at rest . I agree with what has been said but I am not qualified in law , have never studied it and most certainly wouldn't pretend to be an expert.

 

If the venue is serious, it may be even worth seeing if a solicitor will write a letter for a modest fee . Any solicitor worth their salt will advise you if using them is necessary of a waste of money.

On that I can talk from personal experience , I paid £90 to check I was doing everything legally when my estranged wife died but was told that while they would do it for me I was more than capable of doing it myself .