Mr Viral
Dan Bilzerian, a controversial Instagram star and poker celebrity, is taking his father to court for alleged business violations. In his lawsuit, Bilzerian alleges that his dad, Paul Bilzerian, is a criminal who has stolen his vape business, Ignite International.
Bilzerian’s Dad Allegedly Stole Ignite
According to the complaint, Bilzerian senior teamed up with co-defendants Scott Rohleder and Rupy Dhadwar to steal the vape company. To make matters worse, the dad continued to use his son’s imagery and name to promote the company’s vape business.
To top it all off, Paul and the other defendants allegedly tried to steal Dan’s Instagram account where he has a whopping 31.4 million followers.
In the lawsuit, Bilzerian junior claims he is the founder and majority shareholder of Ignite. Despite that, he was allegedly pushed out of the vape company by his father and his cronies, who used unlawful means to take Ignite for themselves.
While Bilzerian junior’s track record is questionable and has seen him have his own fair share of legal trouble and controversies, his claims might not be far-fetched, considering his father’s business career. Paul, for context, was known as a corporate raider in his youth and has even served a four-year sentence for securities fraud.
Bilzerian senior has also had to pay a $62 million fine to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), of which he has only paid off around $550,000, pleading poverty. SEC officials who believed he might be concealing assets charged him with hiding millions of dollars in Ignite earlier this year.
Ignite Removed Dan But Continued to Use His Face
In his lawsuit, Bilzerian junior insists that ex-Ignite CEO Rohleder is serving as Paul’s “right hand” and “US proxy.” Incumbent Ignite CEO Dhadwar, on the other hand, was described as a “puppet” of the other two defendants.
Dan said that in December 2013, at which time he was serving as nominal CEO of Ignite, he reached a serious disagreement with his father’s “agents” over what he perceived as mismanagement of the company. In response, Paul’s alleged agents fired Dan as CEO.
In June this year, almost a decade later, Dan was also removed from the company’s board without the necessary shareholder approval. To make matters worse, the company refused to remove Dan Bilzerian’s imagery and name from its marketing materials.
In his lawsuit, Dan claims that his father and his alleged allies have committed publicity rights, competition and trade practice violations. He also accused them of economic interference and unjust enrichment.
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