Ex-LA Coliseum Execs Arrested On Undisclosed Felony Charges
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Investigators with the District Attorney's office on Thursday arrested two of the top former executives of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on undisclosed felony charges.
KNX 1070's Pete Demetriou reports officials are still mum on details behind the arrests of former Coliseum general manager Patrick Lynch and former events manager Todd DeStefano.
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Lynch was taken into custody at his home in Torrance by investigators from the District Attorney's Office, according to Jane Robison with the District Attorney's Office.
DeStefano was arrested at a friend's home in Venice, while Go Ventures Inc. owner Reza Gerami was taken into custody at his home in Malibu, Robison said.
Gerami had produced music events that had taken place at the Coliseum and other venues.
Robison declined to state the nature of the charges brought against the three, but she did confirm that they are felony charges.
The Coliseum Commission sued Lynch and DeStefano in November, alleging that the pair mismanaged funds and diverted money for their own use.
The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit also named Go Ventures and Insomniac Inc., alleging that they conspired with Lynch and DeStefano to
deprive the Coliseum and its next-door sports arena of revenue from rave performances held since 1998.
From August 2006 through January 2011, Lynch allegedly received nearly $400,000 in money diverted from payments that otherwise would have been received by the commission, according to the lawsuit.
Lynch and DeStefano both resigned from their posts.
The commission decided to file the suit after a months-long investigation by its attorneys, Coliseum Commissioner and Los Angeles City
Councilman Bernard Parks said. Parks said that the two managers likely fleeced the Coliseum of well over $1 million.
Back in January, the Coliseum Commission submitted a proposal to grant control of the scandal-plagued venue to the University of Southern California after reports of questionable spending practices and the ongoing fallout from the death of a 15-year-old girl at a rave concert held at the venue in the summer of 2010.
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