Rapper 50 Cent’s alcohol brand, Sire Spirits LLC, and the parent company of Jim Beam are headed to mediation to settle claims that representatives of Beam Suntory Inc. committed fraud and embezzled money from Sire.
A Manhattan judge sustained Sire’s claims of fraud and conspiracy against Michael Caruso and Julious Grant, both of whom allegedly acted on Beam Suntory’s behalf to help Sire expand and make connections in the alcohol industry. However, the two are accused of orchestrating an embezzlement scheme that included millions in false invoices.
Attorneys for Sire, Caruso, and Grant agreed to mediation during Friday’s oral arguments. Attorneys for Caruso and Grant said they’d prefer to try to work things out in mediation before going through the costly process of drafting and submitting briefs in response to Sire’s claims.
“It seems to me this is the sort of case that should be worked out from the get-go,” New York Supreme Court Justice Melissa Crane said.
Caruso and Grant worked with 50 Cent, whose legal name is Curtis Jackson III, to help him launch Sire’s Le Chemin du Roi champagne and Branson cognac brands between 2015 and 2020.
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