By Roman Wolfe
R&B singer and sometimes rapper R. Kelly has issued a statement surrounding a lawsuit recently filed against the promoter of the "Double Up" Tour.
Milton Kenneth Peacock, of Bowie, Maryland filed the lawsuit on April 11, claiming that promoter Leonard Rowe sold non-existent shares in three of the dates on the tour, which was recently completed.
The lawsuit claims Rowe and his Atlanta based company Rowe Entertainment promised investors half of the profits from the three Kelly concerts in late December and early January, in return for a cash investment of $440,000.
Rowe then allegedly presented the investors with what the lawsuit described as a false accounting, stating that the concerts lost money.
As a result, no profits were be paid out to investors, even though the concerts were allegedly profitable. Kelly, who is also named in the lawsuit, denied any knowledge of Rowe's alleged financial wrong doing.
"I agreed to let Leonard Rowe promote my tour because he convinced me he was an underdog who deserved a chance to prove himself," Kelly said. "Like the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished."
Kelly himself was allegedly scammed by Rowe and in February, Kelly initiated legal action against Rowe for failing to may several million dollars in tour proceeds.
Reps for Kelly claim that Rowe vanished during the last ten days of the tour. Kelly decided the complete the tour despite the fact that he was not being paid, performing for free.
“I have complete sympathy for all of the good people who were swindled by Rowe and I will do everything I can to help them get their money back from him," Kelly said.
Two other lawsuits have been filed against Rowe in regards to investors being scammed out of money from other R. Kelly concerts.