TH

The Bravo Docket

Cesie and Angela

Reviewing Assets and Liabilities

From Pinky Cole’s Vegan Empire to Bankruptcy StoryJun 24, 2026

Excerpt from The Bravo Docket

Pinky Cole’s Vegan Empire to Bankruptcy StoryJun 24, 2026 — starts at 0:00

Between my full time job as a lawyer and recording the show, my life is incredibly high traffic. But I've been focusing lately on making my own space feel more intentional. Your home is really an extension of who you are, and even a small detail, like a rug can completely change the energy of a room, which is why I'm so impressed with Ruggable. I spent a lot of time looking at their modern and vintage inspired designs The one I picked out honestly pulled my whole living room together. What really sold me was the design led performance built philosophy. Having a rug that looks high end, but is actually machine washable and stain resistant gives me so much peace of mind. It has a built in, non slip backing and handles real life without needing constant replacement. It's honestly made my home feel so much more elevated and complete So refresh your home at ruggable. comot get ten percent off your first order site wide with promo code bravo doocket at ruggable d. com That's R U G G A B L E d. com and use code bravo doocket at check out You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind Here's a helpful fact you might not know yet Drivers who switch and save with progressivivees save over nine hundred dollars on average Pop over to progressive. com, answer some questions, and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by. In fact, ninety nine percent of their auto customers earn at least one discount Visit progressive. com and see if you can enjoy a little cash backack Progressive casualty inssurance Company and Affiliates. National average twelve month savings of nine hundred and forty six dollars by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between june twenty twenty four and may twenty twenty five. Potential savings will vary As a small business owner, sometimes it feels like no matter how much planning you do, there's always surprises, like an urgent expensive repair Here's a surprise you will like With progressive, small business owners save thirteen percent on their commercial auto insurance when they pay in full So enjoy a surprise for once Get a quote in as little as eight minutes at progressivecommercial. com Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates, discounts not available in all states or situations. gosh, the names of the burgers are even really cute. The sloppy toy, the One night stand, the Hollywood cooker, the slutty fries, chopped Philly. Okay, now we're just making ourselves hungry. All sounds so good. Welcome to the Bravo Docket, where your favorite reality TV drama meets the courtroom. I'm Cessie, and I'm Angela and we're two attorneys with a passion for pop culture here to dive into the juiciest lawsuits and legal battles in the world of reality TV. Whether you're here for the facts, fun, or just some law one hundred one, let's get into today's case Hey everyone, and welcome back to the Bravo Docket. We are returning to the Bravo Cinematic Universe. And we are going to be talking about Pinky, Coes, Asha Coes various lawsuits. She's the newest cast member, one of the newest cast members on the Real Housewives of Atlanta Have you been watching this season I've been trying to catch up on it. I've been pretty behind on everything right now. So I was trying to catch up on some episodes this morning. I should admit, I'm also sort of behind, but have been introduced to her, know all about her bankruptcy from the show No, she's got a Itt pretty impressive and ongoing, not just business, but really a survival story. Talk about a series of unfortunate events. I think I was more so speaking about the fact that she has just been so open about all of her lawsuits and her bankruptcy, which is sort of rare for a housewife to be. I think everyone knows about it. that is just her storyline, and you typically don't see that on Bravo. On the one hand, it's refreshing. On the other hand, I think it was a strategic choice on her end because she wanted to likely control the narrative. I mean, you've already met her on the show if you've seen a few episodes so far In my opinion, she just gave us a lot at once. It was like Hi, I'm Vvegan and I own all these businesses and I'm going to file for bankruptcy just a on dumped on us. and not necessarily a lot about her personally when she first came on the show. I mean, in her defense, a lot of this stuff happened within the last year and a half. So I can kind of see why she's doing that. and it got a lot of attention on I guess in Atlanta, they still call them the blogs. It was covered on BET. I think it was really well out there well before she went on the show too. Yeah, that's fair. I mean, I do think a new Housewife always benefits from getting some connection with the fans before dumping into the problems. I think that was something that Katie on Real House Aives of Orange County suffered from as well, where she tried to bring in drama or accuse Heather of a lie right out the gate before we had any allegiance to her. I have a feeling Pinky's kind of separately taking a similar route. Anyway. Okay, let's get into who she is. She's an entrepreneur, as we know, a restaurantur, philanthropist and the founder of Sleedy Vegan. She also had a company called Bar Vegan, which has closed within the past couple of years. So Sutty egan though, is an Atlanta based vegan burger chain that became one of the most successful food startups in the country. So she talked about this on the show that she was a producer on the Muri show Very interesting. I'm Muri Povich I didn't realize that. Yeah, she talked about that, I think in her first episode. and she posted about it on social media. so she has the receipts to prove that she was a producer. So she launched Sutty Vvegan in twenty eighteen with the goal of just making plant based food more approachable through provocative branding and indulgent menu items. The concept quickly became a cultural phenomenon, attracting celebrity fans and national media attention So she also operated a popular food truck known as the B o slut which would travel throughout Atlanta and other cities hosting pop up events and serving the signature burgers and fries And in twenty twenty two, the company attracted some investors. They raised twenty five million dollars in series A funding, including from investors Danni Meyer and Richel Lou Dennis, which I believe they are also affiliated with Shakehack. Oh, okay. She had her own burger actually at Shakehack called the Suty Shack Shake Shack's own veggie patty topped with Pinky's secret slut dust, Lemon, ginger, kale, caramelized onions, ranch, and a mayo. on a toasted Hawaiian bun. Good really good. I only got like a little snack before we started recording and I'm getting hungry. Yeah I forgot my lunch today and I had miso soup for lunch, which is so that's not a lunch. That's basically like you didn't eat lunch. Yeah I know because I just drank some miso soup really quickly because John just brought home food a bunch of Japanese food, and that was all I had time to eat right before we started recording, so we're kind of in the same boates But the transaction, this twenty five million dollars in series A funding, valued the company at approximately one hundred million dollars which is huge. That doesn't necessarily mean she got a hundred million dollars. That's just what it was valued at. And herein is the problem She is also known for her philanthropic work. In twenty nineteen, she founded the Pinky Cole Foundation, whose mission is to help young people of color build financial literacy, pursue entrepreneurship, and create generational wealth. The foundation focuses on teens and young adults ages thirteen through twenty two through educational and economic empowerment initiatives. Her charitable efforts receive significant attention in partnership with other Philanthropists, Cole has paid rent for struggling small businesses, funded tuition for dozens of Clark Atlanta University students, purchased a vehicle and life insurance for the family of Richard Brooks following his death in twenty twenty and supported numerous community initiatives. She also partnered with Derek Kayes, founder of Big Dave's cheheeseesteaks and her husband to launch Square one, the lifeife experxperience and initiative aimed at providing life insurance coverage to twenty five thousand black men by the end of twenty twenty three. Yeah, so she's done some great stuff. So actually Shake Shak has a little bit more on her bio. I wanted to mention some other things that they have in here So she was born to Jamaican immigrant parents in Baltimore. She attended Clark Atlanta University. She moved to LA, landed her job at the Maury Boent Show, or just in the TV industry And then she opened a Jamaican restaurant called Pinkiess in twenty fourteen burned down from a grease fire. my God And then she built herself back up. by landing a job on the own network, so Oprah Winfree network and then came up with the idea for Sleuty Vgan in twenty eighteen. So she's very impressive. Yeah. Wait did you talk about her book? She also announced her first cookbook in twenty twenty two and it's called Eat pllants Bitch. It's great branding It really is in a good way, it reminds me of Kelly Kapor when she went to Yale for that symposium or whatever and then came back and branded herself as the business bitch. and so I think there's a lot more business bitches out there than sli bitches plants bitch. I think it's so clever. Well especially for southern inspired comfort food dishes because a lot of those are really meat heavy. My mom used to cook with lard and stuff when I was younger and it's very difficult to get that really good flavor without using a lot of animal products. so that's pretty cool that she was able to do that and obviously have it be so good that she had a huge following from it. Really solid reviews. This is the one in Edgewood, Atlanta. Yelp. I feel like traditionally trends lower than Google. I'm aelp I'm a review connoisseur. loveove reading reviews. and it has five hundred sixty one reviews to four point three stars, which is really solid. Yeah. 'cause a lot of times people when they do reviews, is when they're mad. A lot of times when people really love something, they don't take the effort to leave a good review necessarily. Oh my gosh, the names of the burgers are even really cute. The sloppy toopy, the One Night St, reviewers universally praise the slutty fries, crrinkle cut fries seasoned with a proprietary sweet and savory slut dust I would eat the hell out of some of those fussy hussy Cooker Fries, The Hollywood hooker, chopp Philly Okay now we're just making ourselves hungry. It all sounds so good. Through watching, have you gotten to meet her husband and how he owns a Philly cheeseesteak company. Big Dave's cheeseesteaks.. Totally opposite. It's meat. Yeah. And then sluty vegans Obviously vegan. We've got some hardcore vegans in my family. My sister, Ashley and her husband, they live in South Dakota and they're vegan. But they're both vegan. They're both vegan. That's what I'm saying. It's very interesting for I mean, obviously, you don't have to live by the same practices, but it's just interesting. L one has an empire built on veganism and the other one has an empire built Philly cheesees All right, let's start with the hard lawsuits though. We're gonna to start with bar vegan This is a random one that I haven't seen anything about This was filed january twenty twenty two. the plaintiff here, her name is we'll just call her Edmundson. She's a Kentucky resident She filed a suit against Bar Vegan in Fulton County Superior Court arising from a vehicle collision that occurred on april twenty fifth, twenty twenty one on Interstate twenty in Atlanta. According to the complaint, McCantance, who's a driver, was allegedly traveling at an excessive speed and under the influence of alcohol He rear ended pllaintiff's nissan Rogue, causing it to flip over. Plaintiff alleges that before the crash, McCantz had been drinking at Bar vegan, where the restaurant purportedly served him alcohol while he was visibly intoxicated Plaintiff contends that McCant's intoxication caused the collision and resulted in physical injuries, mental anguish and property damage. Essentially what this is trying to hold the bar liable for his accident because they kept serving him alcohol Allegedly There are three causes of action against Bar eggan First, plaintiff brings a Dram shop claim under Georgia's Dram Shop Act, alleging that Bar evegan unlawfully sold or furnished alcohol to McCants while he was visibly intoxicated and that the service of alcohol was a proximate cause of plaintiff's injuries. Do you have experience with this? Well, I mean, I was a bartender all throughout undergrad and even while I was in law school And the bars that I worked in were in states typically where there were not dram shop laws. It's not the bar's responsibility and the bar can't be held liable if you drink and drive. Now that wasn't a hard and fast rule necessarily, but some states like Georgia have specific dram shop laws. And really, in my opinion, this is typically just a way to get another insurance company on the hook for paying part of a settlement The plaintiff obviously sued McCant for his negligence and so his insurance company for his auto insurance and his vehicle is going to be on the hook. And then if you can get another policy on the hook you can add the potential pot that you're going to get as a plaintiff and plaintiff's attorney I think I'm assuming that's what they were hoping for here. Yeah So California, I was looking it up Business owners can be held liable for selling alcohol to visibly intoxicated Minors makes sense. Visibly intoxicated minors. Okay, so it's not just general dram shop. If they're visibly intoxicated and they're minors, then you're on the hook. Okay. That makes sense. I mean they shouldn't be selling to minors at all. Right, right Texas does have dram shop laws, but As I amm sure as a surprise to no one, it heavily favors the businesses and the employers as opposed to an individual filing a lawsuit. And in Texas, the plaintiff must prove that at the exact time the alcohol was sold or served, that it was apparent to the provider that the individual was obviously intoxicated to the extent that he presented a clear danger to himself or others. And the Texas Supreme Court has routinely held that this is a much higher burden of proof than simple negligence or kn or should have known standard The plaintiff typically in Texas needs heavy circumstantial or direct evidence providing a staggering number of drinks in a short amount of time. Or there's video evidence that this person was falling over drunk and was obviously intoxicated. Back when I was a bartender, I remember this guy came up and he had a party hat on, obbviously drunk. I was already not going to serve him more alcohol, and I was gonna to be like, here's some water. Would you like a lemon in it And he got mad at me and started trying to argue with me and then he took his party top hat off and vomited in . if I had served an alcohol in Texas under that circumstance, I think that would have been a good case. of I shouldn't have done that. Yes. But I was already planning on not doing it and then I had a party hat full of vomit on my bar which was bros. I know Yeah, so according to the summary, the states with the broadest and toughest ones are Texas, Georgia, which we're talking about right now Illinois, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and the weakest, California, Florida, Louisiana, and Wisconsin. Not surprised about Louisiana. Louisiana is one of those states where if your parents say you can drink and you're a minor, you can drink. or at least when I went to New Orleans with my parents Be I was like, no, I can't. They're like, No, you can'. I was like, absolutely not weird I didn't even consider But then I look at the law and you can. Oh, it looks like Texas has a safe harbor defense too. So Texas bar owners can be completely immune from liability, from dram shop liability for the actions of an overerving employee if the employer can prove that it requires all of its employees to attend the Texas alcohol and Beverage contontrol apppproved Celler training program And the specific employee that allegedly overserved actually attended and completed that training. So Texas even has more protections for bar owners if they follow those rules. I've been very open that I am presently trying to conceive. And with that comes the need to take prenatal vitamins. but I want to make sure I'm taking the best of the best and that I'm not overwhelming myself and carrying around multiple pills throughout the day. That's why I'm so happy that Parallel is one of our sponsors. you haven't heard of Parallel, they prepare little packets of vitamins. So my preconception vitamins have four different pills. One being a fish oil supplement. And I just take the pack and throw it in my bag first thing every morning and then take it when I'm at work. I also have it on a subscription so it comes monthly so I never run out. And the good thing about parallel is that if we do happen to become pregnant They have different formulations that go with you throughout your entire pregnancy and even offer support after your pregnancy. For example, in your first trimester, you get a premium prenatal and extra B six and ginger for nausea support. In your third trimester, for comparison, you get a premium prenatal and probiotics to support mom's gut health baby's microbiome development. So like I said, you literally switch packs as your body and baby move into a new phase. Best of all, it's OBGYN foundounded, third party tested, winner of the Clean Label Project Purity Award, has research backed ingredients, no synthetics, collors, or allergens. So if you're pregnant, trying or postpartum, you need to check out parallel. I cannot recommend it enough And I had them give me an exclusive code just for you New customers can use code docket and get twenty percent off your first order at parallelhealth dot com slash docket. That's P ER El Elhealth dot com slash docket. When Cessie and I are deep in court documents or prepping for a massive episode, the last thing I want to worry about is an uncomfortable outfit. but I still w to look chic and pull together, which is exactly why I am obsessed with Quints. They make elevated essentials using premium materials like European linen, organic cotton, and washable silk without the traditional retail markup. If you haven't tried Quint's one hundred percent European linen pants, dresses and tops yet, you are seriously missing out. These are the pieces you'll reach for all summer long because they're lightweight, effortless to style, and start at just thirty two dollars Their denim is incredibly soft and comfortable and their organic cotton sweaters are perfect for layering when the evenings cool down. The best part, everythingverything at Quintince is priced fifty percent to eighty percent less than similar luxury brands, and they work directly with ethical factactories to cut out the middlemen entirely so you're paying for exceptional quality, not a brand markup. I was packing for my two week trip to the Kentucky Horse Park earlier this month Half of my suitcase was Quinslinon. So make your summer wardrobe feel easier. Go to quintince. com slash docket for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty five day returns. now available in Canada too. So go to quinces. com slash docket for free shipping and three hundred sixty five day returns. Quintinces. com slash docket Okay, so the second cause of action here is negligent security. They claim that Barveegan failed to adequately train and supervise employees And failed to take reasonable measures to prevent McCants from driving while intoxicated, such as confiscating his keys, removing him safely from the premises, contacting law enforcement, arranging alternative transportation, or otherwise protecting the public from the foreseeable danger he posed. Okay, that's ridiculous. They're not his mom. They're not his parents, arranging transportation, confiscating the keys. You would think it would end with like, oh They just shouldn't serve him more. not they have to micromanage this person. I don't know how successful that sort of acclaim is in this state. And we don't know from this case either because spoiler alert, I think there was a settlement So I'm not sure. Georgia lawyers, let us know what you think of this if you're listening. 'cause neither one of us are licensed in Georgia I'm curious And then the third cause of action is a claim for wanton security based on substantially the same alleged conduct, just claims that their conduct was wanton rather than merely negligent. And she was seeking compensatory damages for her injuries and property loss as well as punitive damages for punishing and to deter misconduct So Barvegan filed a motion to dismiss. We're not going to get into it. Barvegan also filed a motion to bring in the driver of the car as a necessary party in the lawsuit, which makes sense. Wait, the driver wasn't already a party? No If I had to assume there wass probably a criminal action against maybe. But no, he was not named in this lawsuit Paintiff filed a motion for summary judgment, which is in my experience a little rare. But before it was fully briefed, I believe they may have settled because the case was dismissed with prejudice. With prejudice. All right, let's go on to the next one, which when you Google pinky, when you Google Bar vegan This one comes up. This one is a big deal. So the next case against Bar Vegan LLC, also against Pinky, Eron Madison and Jason Crane is about wage and hour violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. So a bartender filed a lawsuit on behalf of herself and other similarly situated bar vegan servers and bartenders alleging that Bar evegan improperly classified them as tipped employees while paying them only two dollars and thirteen cents per hour and simultaneously required them to surrender a substantial portion of their tips to the restaurant. Federal minimum wage was seven point two five per hour. They were being paid to thirteen, and you could get away with that If you're also giving them tips. But according to the complaint, Bar Vegan maintained a policy under which tipped employees were required to give twenty five percent of their tips to the house purportedly for operational expenses such as bar equipment and other costs rather than distributing those funds through a lawful tip poole. Yeah, that's not okay. The complaint alleges that because Bar Vegan retained employee tips for its own benefit, it was not legally entitled to take the tip credit, meaning employees should have been paid the full federal minimum wage and applicable overtime rates I mean, if that's true, I would agree with that Well, that's how it works. It's when trying to say Yeah. You either pay the minimum wage or you pay less than minimum wage, but then they're supposed to get full tips either or you can have both. When I started out as a cocktail waitress, I would tip out the bartenders and the Other than that, my tips were mine. And the bartenders were making me drinks and the busers were cleaning the tables. That seemed totally reasonable to me. But having to give twenty five percent of my tips for what did they sayve was for? For business expenses. So I believe it was like for cups. Yeahah, just things that the business should have been paying for. outright out of the profits and revenues that they were making. Absolutely not Not okay Insane. Yeah. The plaintiffs alleged that defendants willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay minimum wages, failing to pay proper overtime compensation, and unlawfully retaining employee tips and the proposed collective action sought to represent all servers and bartenders at Bar Vegan who were paid below minimum wage and received customer tips within the applicable statute of limitations period. The lawsuit requested unpaid minimum wages and overtime wages, recovery of retained tips, liquidated damages, attorneys' fees, and costs and a jury trial. All right, so I did want to talk about this because it reminded me of when I worked at Starbucks, which Starbucks was one of my two first jobs. I worked at Starbucks, and I also worked at a pool I know Starbreucks paid better than a lot of other places. Yeah, it paid really well and we got tips, but there was a lawsuit and ended up getting like a big check for ager a couple years later, because the managers were taking tips and managers aren't supposed to take tips. They would pool together all of the tips and then divided up by all of the employees, including the supervisors, and you're not supposed to do that Managers can't participate in the tip pool unless the person who's giving the tip says, this is for you, manager. Well, they're salaried employees. They shouldn't be relying on tips for anything. That doesn't make sense. I mean, are they salaried employees? Managers. Thismost like shiff lead managers. yeah. It's not corporate. I don't think they were salaried. I guess I don't actually know When I was in it, I was like, Oh, that's fine. I don't care. It's like, yeah, she's working like we are. She's happened to be one of the managers, but. oh, I guess it is salaried. Usually managers are salaried employees where they're not relying on tips. Yeah, so I guess three years ago, I guess depending on where it is, it was fifty to ninety k, depending on cost of living. Pretty good. Wow. Pretty good. So your other job was a pool where you lifeguard No, I was front desk. Front desk, okay. But I worked with all the hot life gar who all wanted to teach me how to swim Thank you. I ended up dating one of them. love M when I think about him, I get all blushy. That sounds like it could be a reality show. Yeah, I definitely could. It was all these really cute. I mean, you know, we were young, eighteen year old fit life guards and then me fr in my stupid polo. checking people in for their classes. I did, even though I worked at the front desk, I had to do the swim test Oh, they were all required to undertake a swim test. Yeah. my Godd. I almost died I couldn't do it. I really couldn't You couldn't swim a lap No Not no. Can you still not swim? No. ee I just get tired I don't need to swim for any reason. I'm good. When I go snorkeling and I put on the vest, I'm good. I'm chilling Okay, we're going to talk about this later. nextext time we're on vacation together Yeah, me and that guy. We stayed in contact of Wild too. He'd come home and then we'd link up He's door now him anyay If you know me, you know that while I appreciate the finer things in life, I absolutely live for the thrill of a good deal. And this is exactly why I am completely obsessed with Whatnot. Whatnot is a number one live shopping app in the US where shopping happens in real time, with real people, real conversations and incredible deals. It's the largest live shopping market in the United States and it completely changes the game. If you haven't done the live shopping experience, let me explain how it works. So you go into the live show and it has hosts, people in real time that are selling these products So you can ask them questions. I'm really into vintage pins. So I like to see the back of the pins and I just put in the chat, hey, can I see the back? so I could see what year it was released. I like that there's that accessibility there to the host so I can get more information about the products that I'm looking to buy. Like I mentioned before, I was able to recreate my Disney pin collection using whatnot. So many of the items start at just a dollar. So you're competing against other people who are viewing to get an amazing on item that you want You can shop some incredible brand names across makeup, perfume, clothes, handbags and jewelry all without that luxury retail sticker shock. The sellers are amazing. There are over ten thousand fashion, beauty and handbag sellers and whatnot going live twenty fourty seven. It's the ultimate way to discover new luxury brands and products without ever paying full retail price. so download Whatot today and twenty dollars off in free shipping on your first purchase, search whatnot, WHAT NOT in the A store, sign up and start finding the best deals on the products you love with twenty dollars off and free shipping on your first purchase. We examine a lot of business ventures on the Bravo docket, some that thrive and some that completely unravel in a lawsuit or a courtroom But with good sales revenue, you can overcome just about any obstacle. If you've been sitting on a brilliant business idea but feel too overwhelmed to start, we get it. Starting a business is a big deal, but Shopify makes it so much simpler because all the tools you need to launch are already included and ready from day one. Shopify's gorgeous templates and AI tools get a stunning, professional storefront up and running fast with no coding needed. So your brand looks incredibly chic right out of the gate Even better, Shopify Checkout means your store is automatically optimized for the moment you launch, letting returning customers buy in a single click so you never miss a sale. As someone who dooms scrolls and shops a lot at night, let me just tell you, that's so important for your sales is making it so easy so that people don't have to get up and get their wallet. And if you ever have a tech question you're secretly afraid to ask, Shopify's built in AI assistant sidekick is always ready to help you troubleshoot and keep moving All you need is the idea. Shopify handles the rest. Start your free trial at shopify d. com slash dcket. That's shopify d. com slash dcket So defendants all denied the allegations, but then they ended up selling for sixty two thousand one hundred and seventy two dollars to the plaintiffs for damages. I think this was through mediation because I looked at the docket and it happened right after mediation. And a rep for Pinky said while Pinky Cole was personally named in the lawsuit, she has no personal ownership or financial interest in Barveegan LLC. The entity is owned by Sutty Vegan Inc And any liabilities associated with Bar Vevegan fall under that corporate structure. At the time, Cole stated that although she was mentioned as a defendant, she was the CEO of Suty Vegan and didn't own an interest. Interesting. Yeah. The legal issues just keep going. Yeah. but this might explain what was going on. So the CFO of Bar Vegan was indicted on theft First degree forgery and money laundering was not expecting that. Yeah. So the former CFO Erin Madison from twenty twenty one to twenty twenty two was skimming cash and forging wire transfers. and this was not known by Pinky. So that's twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two, and then the wage and hour lawsuit that we just talked about Over the twenty five percent house tips giving policy that happened in july twenty twenty two. I wouldn' be surprised if he had something to do with that as well Not that I'm saying Yeah, I think that's why this may have happened. Yeah. So yeah, it says he's accused of orchestrating various financial transactions while managing the company's finances between twenty twenty one and twenty twenty two. Prosecutors allegge that he created fraudulent, unauthorized financial documents purporting to be approved by Bar Vegan He then initiated an eighty seven thousand dollars wire transfer and used the funds for personal gain He withdrew company funds through repeated six hundred dollars transactions between september twenty twenty one and twenty twenty two, totaling over twenty four thousand nine hundred ninety nine dollars and then transferring the funds across several bank accounts in an alleged money laundering scheme Also if he was the CFO and he was doing that, I could see him being like, yeah. have to twenty five percent of their. Yeah. whyy not? Well this says he also caused a lender to initiate a wire transfer in the amount of eighty seven thousand three hundred dollars into a bank of America account belonging to Barr Veggan LLC under the false pretenses that Barr Vegan LLC had authorized the wire transfer, and then he withdrew the funds and used them for his own benefit This is from the indictment. So then you got a cashier's check in the amount of eighty seven thousand three hundred dollars. He's not very good at this. There's no attempt at covering your tracks here. Money laundering, forgery, not good. M Number three, Johan promotion versus bar vegan. So this is against Bar Vegan again, Pinky, Jason Cane. So three defendants. The allegations are commercial piracy of pay perview boxing. It was filed april sixteenth, twenty twenty five So Johan Promotions actually when I was researching this, Johan Promotions is very aggressive about protecting their rights and making sure that companies are not streaming their fights without the proper licenses, which is a thing. So it is a company. It acquires and sub lenses commercial exhibition rights for major sporting events. So it alleges that it held the exclusive commercial distribution rights. to the june twenty sixth, twenty twenty one Jervanta Davis versus Mario Barrios pay perview fight. Wait, so that's the same time the CFO is still there. I wonder if he did this too? Maybe. Maybe according to the complaint, businesses and this is even not according to the complaint, you have to purch a commercial sub license, but here it was from Joe Hand, so the promotion company, in order to lawfully show the fight to patrons. So the complaint alleges that Barveegan didn't purchase the required commercial license, but still displayed the fight at its Atlanta establishment for customers So it claims that Barveegan intentionally circumvented the licensing system by obtaining the broadcast through an unauthorized source such as a residential cable or satellite account, an internet stream, or another method. they don't really say how. Basically, it's like one person probably bought it and then they streamed it to everyone. Yeah. So the complaint notes that the event was advertised on social media that food and drinks were sold during the broadcast and that the exhibition of the fight was intended to attract customers and generate revenue for the establishment. Makes sense. Yeah. They alleged that Pinky and Jason Crane exercised control over the business had the ability to supervise its operations and had a direct financial interest in the unauthorized exhibition makes sense. The claims were under the Federal Communications Act, specifically forty seven USC six hundred five and five hundred and fifty three, which prohibit unauthorized interception and exhibition of satellite and cable broadcasts. He's also claiming that the violations were willful, so he's seeking statutory damages with attorneyss fees costs and interest. Oh, the statutory damages go up to one hundred ten thousand dollars under the statute or alternatively up to sixty thousand dollars. That small that's not a small amount. No. So I can't believe I forgot about this case, but I had a case that was similar to this on a much wider, larger scale And on behalf of a cable network, I created a presentation at my firm for federal prosecutors in Philadelphia. to encourage them to prosecute this individual, this company that was selling streaming services through a streaming service that he purchased He did this thing where he would purchase streaming services and then resell them for cheaper on his website and it was this huge scheme out of Philadelphia. They had hundreds of thousands of subscribers themselves. So just straight up pirating this content. I didn't realize that this was something that the cable networks did though, where they all get together and then they go to prosecutors and they're like, Hey, go get this guy. We've created all of the work for you made this huge presentation where I went through all the laws at issue, what he was spending the money on. I went through this guy's social media like crazy. I compiled all the cars he had purchased, his homes. It was so fascinating The O only thing that sucked was that I didn't get to go to the presentation. the partner went. But it was still really cool. They ended up indicting the individual. He was sentenced to five and a half years in federal prison. And it's a really similar c theory between the two. If you're required to purchase a license for something, buy the license. You can't take content that you're paying just for your individual use and stream it to a broader audience, especially at the skillle that he was doing it. He created a whole new streaming service It's very interesting. You know that this reminds me of because I'm old. when you had the VHS tapes and in the beginning there wouldd be the FBI piracy warning. It's the same law. Right and have the big FBI symbol on it I remember I went to a neighbor's house one time because I was friends with their daughter and she invited me over to watch a movie and they had this whole room full of these pirated VHS tapes. She was like, Ohh, we can watch whatever we want, blah, blah, blah, We just have to put it back. And I remember being like so scared when I went home that night that the FBI was gonna come arrest me because I watched a pirated VHS tape and then I was too scared to go back over there and watch a movie with her afraid of the SM No, I totally yeah, felt the same way and I didn't even see a pirated one. I was eleven years old. I thought just by looking at the FBI warning I was gonna get arrested. I know I was so scared. I was like, oh no, I committed a federal crime Well, interestingly enough, I hadn't thought about that case, like I said until researching this. And you know, when you research the case or you look up something on Google and it gives you a little AI thing that's sometimes wrong. Yeah. The AI thing for this said federal prosecutors in Philadelphia led the massive prosecution of local. He was also a YouTuber, local YouTuber. His name was Omni and Heelcat. And you're like, no, I did. No, but they did for running one of the largest illegal TV and cable streaming operations in US history I didn't realize that it was that big, veryer interesting There's even a Wikipedia page for it, Arest of Omni and a Hellcat. That was his name, veryy random And it says he was also fined thirty million dollars. Wow That seems excessive, but no, he stole so much money from them by rest streaming their content. It was literally anything you could watch. He also did UFC fights as well. He was literally a pirate. He was a literally literal pirate. A pirate. Like a very successful one. Yeah I did put a note in here, What about Bravo watchatch parties because they are so popular. theoretically that could raise similar copyright concerns. Holders aren't gonna to go and enforce that. They're not going spend all the resources and the time be like, oh, you one hundred people at that bar How dare you stream this from No, they don't care. It's also very different than a UFC fight or something that's pay perview where there's a well established commercial licensing system.. So that's why companies like Joe Hand in the lawsuit against Bar Vvegan aggressively pursue these unauthorized exhibitions And there's also the fact that Bravo probably likely gets a lot more value from all of us gathering in a bar watching the shows than it would from prosecuting these cases or sending a bunch of cease and to desist letters. It's just the value add from allowing these watch parties to happen is a lot higher, but also it's just a different licensing mechanism and it's a different process and procedure because this is coming from a streaming service You know, like how do you dice that up? Anyway, it's not like a one for one UFC fight that you know you had to pay this much. It would be terrible, terrible PR for NBC Universal Bravo to go after watch parties. That would be just Terrible I will say though, if they did a pay perview of extra content, I'd watch that. I'd pay I know. I'll pay five bucks to watch it. Why not? They'd make so much money. I w to watch the entire seven, eight hours or whatever it is of the summer House reunion. I want to watch it all unedited, all of it. giveive it to me Yes, same. So the status of this case, it was stayed for all claims against Ashia C against Pinky because of her bankruptcy And like I mentioned before, bar vegan has been closed for about One year now. Summer always makes me want to be out and doing things all day long, whether it's morning walks, coffee runs, barn days with my horse or weekend trips. And every year, when summer hits, I realize I want clothes that can actually keep up with all of that. And that's why I started looking for a better option and ended up joining Fabletics as a VIP, which completely changed how I shop for summer. When you sign up as a new VIP with Fabletics, you get seventy to eighty percent off everything It makes it so easy to grab multiple matching sets, which I love. And honestly, the quality surprised me. Fabletics pieces feel exactly like premium activewear you'd expect from higher end luxury athletic brands, but without the massive price tag. Everything is incredibly soft, breathable, and actually built to last. They're incredibly flattering, hold it beautifully, even in the Texas summer heat And I'm officially obsessed. So shop now at fabletics dot com slash docket to get seventy to eighty percent off everything when you sign up as a new VIP. Take a quick style cliz and be sure to select docket when prompted to unlock this offer. This is a limited time offer, so don't wait. Again, that's fabletics dot com slash docket for seventy to eighty percent off everything as a new VIP Between balancing my trial schedule, prep work with a Bravo docket and trying to spend time with my husband and at the barn, with my horse, fitting a consistent full length workout into my actual life can feel impossible. And I also just have a hard time relaxing, which is why I started using the Life Pro Waiver vibration plate. Now, I know what you're thinking because I thought the exact same thing I was incredibly skeptical, but the first time I actually stepped on it, I got it. When you stand on the waiver, your nervous system literally cannot ignore the vibration. Your muscles are constantly firing and contracting automatically, just to stabilize your body, giving you incredible muscle activation. I am super tense by the end of the day. I've gotten so many stressful emails You've had court hearings, your body tenses up and you don't even realize where you hold all your tension. A quick ten minute session on the waiver not only helps release all that tension because you're forced to purposely contract your muscles and then let them go, but it also burns roughly fifty to one hundred calories depending upon your weight and what you're doing. There's a reason Life Pro is America's number one vibration plate brand with over two point five million people already using it Plus, they give you a risk free thirty day return and a lifetime warranty. For a limited time, our listeners can get twenty dollars off the waiver vibration plate, plus free shipping with code Docket at lifeprofitnessot com That's LIFE P fINESS d. com and use code Docket for twenty dollars off Let's talk about her bankruptcy. We've talked about bankruptcies Obviously a lot before a lot. But let's remind everyone what the difference is between chapter seven, eleven, twelve, and thirteen So chapter seven is for individuals, corporations, and partnerships in financial difficulty who do not have the ability to pay their existing debts. Under Chapter seven, a trustee takes possession of all the debtors non exempt property, if any liquidates it for cash and uses the proceeds to pay creditors according to the priority of the bankruptcy code. So it's literally the government becomes your mom and dad. onnce your lemonade stand or whatever it is that you're doing, you don't have the money to pay your bills. You owe money for sugar and for lemons to your vendors and you can't pay it and then mom and dad take over and sell your assets whatever remaining you have your lemonade stand, whatever it is, and then use that to pay off the creditors. Chapter eleven allows a business to reorganize and restructure its finances so that it can continue to operate, provide employees with jobs, pay its creditors, and provide a return for its stockholders, if any. Chapter eleven is primarily designed for a business, but it's also available to individuals. In a chapter eleven case, the debtor proposes a plan to creditors, which, if accepted by the creditors and approved by the court will allow a debtor to reorganize. A debtor may also propose a plan of liquidation and cease doing business. Chapter thirteen enables individuals with regular incomes under court supervision and protection to repay their debts over an extended period of time According to a plan, the plan may call for full or partial repayment, corporations cannot file under Chapter thirteen of the bankruptcy code. And then chapter twelve, I've never heard of this, allows family farmers with financial difficulties to repay debts over a period of time from future earnings in many ways, similar to chapter thirteen. Okay, so I went through her Instagram today to get all the nuggets I could. and this is what led up to her bankruptcy in her own words. So in an interview with The Breakfast Club, which is a podcast She claims that the restaurant, each restaurant, takes about a hundred thousand to one million dollars to set up. So she claimed that there was twenty million dollars in debt due to high payroll costs everything just added up. She said, Okaykay, I can file an assignment for the benefit of creditors. So this is before bankruptcy. This is what's leading up to it She explained, this is her words, bankruptcy's first cousin. It's an out of court procedure to file. No more investors, no longer the CEO. She didn't own the company for forty three days Another company took it over to sell off the assets in debt You sell the business for someone else to buy it So forty three days later, she repurchased the business. The creditors now she says are going after her personally because she is the person responsible from the old company. even though it no longer exists claims they went after her because she is a public figure. She said, smart entrepreneurs know you don't hold assets in your personal name. On paper, I ain't got nothing personally as it should be She said, I've got lawsuits I'm mocking in the Stain. Regis. I'm being served with lawsuits And she says all of this is just from the old company. So that's a summary of her interview. Well, I'm glad she didn't personally guarantee anything if that's true. That is smart Sorry I'm laughing. You'll see my. But first, let's get through the boring part, then we'll get to the laughing part. So an assignment for the benefit of creditors, an ABC is a voluntary state level alternative to federal bankruptcy in which the financially distressed business transfers its assets to an independent fiduciary. So this is the company that she was saying took over The assignee, so this independent company liquidates the assets and distributes the proceeds to creditors in an orderly manner to resolve outstanding debts So I put in here a recording of her explaining what an ABC is, so this assignment for the benefit of creditors, which she does a great job doing. But she has this entire series on her Instagram now. She's acting like Miss Rachel. Do you know who Miss Rachel is? Who is Miss Rachel? Well, Miss Rachel is a really popular kids figure. so she start not psychic from the early nineties. No. miss Rachel appeals to children. She wears overalls. She has a really sweet voice. She's like,

This excerpt was generated by Smart Features

Listen to The Bravo Docket in Podtastic

For listeners, not advertisers

All podcast names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Podcasts listed on Podtastic are publicly available shows distributed via RSS. Podtastic does not endorse nor is endorsed by any podcast or podcast creator listed in this directory.