New York gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello is caught in a legal kerfuffle, with guitarist Oren Kaplan accusing Eugene Hutz of stealing almost a half-million in dollars from the coffers of Gogol Bordello.
The news broke a little over a week after their sixth studio album, the ironically-titled Pura Vida Conspiracy, hit the market. According to Billboard, Kaplan’s lawsuit was filed individually as well as on behalf of Gogol Bordello’s business entity Gypsy Punks, and alleges that Hutz “brazenly absconded with approximately half a million dollars from the bank accounts of the Gogol Bordello entities and deposited those funds into the accounts of new companies which are wholly owned by Hutz.” The complaint accuses Hutz of “feigning concern for the plaintiff (whose mother had just passed away) and encouraging plaintiff to take an extended leave of absence from the group,” so that in the meantime he could secretly strike up a promotional deal with Coca-Cola. A whopping $950,000 in damages are at stake.
Leave a Comment