Eva Longoria’s Beso Club in Bankruptcy
Posted on Jan 11, 2011 3:54pm PST
The Las Vegas Sun has reported that the Las Vegas restaurant and nightclub owned by Eva Longoria and her co-investors, Beso, has filed for bankruptcy protection in an effort to restructure debts of almost $5.7 million.
In the Chapter 11 filing Longoria owns 32% of Beso - with listed assets of 2.5 million - and has projected losses of $76,000 per month.
The bankruptcy has been filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Las Vegas.
The company reportedly owes $1.8 million to its CityCenter landlord, Crystals. The Court documents show that Beso, and its nightclub named "Eve", may have been having some trouble keeping its lease agreement.
In the last year, per the bankruptcy filing, Beso generated almost $14.6 million in gross income.
Longoria, herself listed as a creditor owed $375,000 in legal fees that she paid on Beso's behalf, is owed an additional $1 million for a cash loan she had also extended.
Former partners, contractors and construction companies are listed as some of the creditors with pending lawsuits of their own against Beso. Ronen and Mali Nachum, investors and alleged former managers at Beso, claim that they leant $280,000 to help pay for Beso's construction costs and then they were edged out of the company without being repaid.
The Nachum's have filed a lawsuit in Clark County District Court. On October 27, Judge Mark Denton denied Longoria, and co-defendants, a motion to have the case dismissed. The Longoria camp has since filed a counter-suit. Their attorneys have stated that the Nachum's claim of ownership and investment "is in question because of the existence of irregularities and certain improprieties which may have been committed."
Per the state of Nevada Ronen Nachum is not a licensed contractor, and he was only granted access to Beso to oversee construction based on his assertion that he was.
The counterclaim states, "Due in large part to Ronen Nachum's mismanagement of the construction process, Beso LLC was forced to request an additional contribution in the form of a $1 million loan by Longoria."
The counterclaim further alleges that is was Ronen Nachum's "serial mismanagement" of Beso's construction that led to over a million in construction liens, lawsuits and multiple breaches of their lease with Crystals.
Besides the mishandling of funds, Ronen Nachum is accused of using "threats and intimidation to gain control over the day-to-day operations of Beso with the encouragement of Mali Nachum."
Nachum's attorneys have argued against the countersuit, and have asked that $280,000 - money that was allegedly deposited by Ronen Nachum into a Beso construction account - be garnered. The filing reads, "It would be manifestly unfair for Beso and its agents to terminate their relationship with the Nachums, but use the Nachums' personal funds to pay for the liens for the construction of Beso."
Other litigation against Beso includes investments made by Anthony Vicidomine - that has since been settled - Bombard Electric LLC, Mechanical Insulation Specialists and Perini Building Co.
Assets listed for Beso include $1.9 million in computers, furniture, equipment, restaurant supplies and audio/video equipment. There is an additional $172,000 in assets listed in their current inventory of food and beverage.
Along with Longoria, other ownership interests are: 2 percent Vicidomine, 1 percent John Torregiani Consulting Inc., 32 percent Jonas Lowrance and 32 percent that is in dispute with the Nachums.
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