Lisa Vanderpump Bars in London Hit With Fraud Lawsuits Claiming They Stole West Hollywood Site Out From Under Owners

Lisa Vanderpump’s bars in London will have to stay in London. The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd, her real husband, were hit with lawsuits that seek to stop them from opening a new bar in West Hollywood. Lisa Vanderpump named in a lawsuit alleging fraud, breach of contract and deceit.

Lisa Vanderpump was accused of intentional interference with a contract and with violating a competition law. Court documents were filed yesterday with the Superior Court of the State of California.

The suit against Lisa Vanderpump claims that the owners of LuLu Restaurant Group, Ryan Carrillo and Andrey Grover wanted to open a gay sports bar in West Hollywood 2009 called Bar Varsity. The pair agreed to open a venue at a property that Elie Samaha owned on 8948 Santa Monica Boulevard. The site housed a coffee house called Java Detour that had closed.

Elie Samaha agreed to put up $500,000 as an investor and to pay $4,000 a month in rent. Samaha had to attend all the council planning meetings and get the necessary permits. The trouble started when, according to the lawsuit, “Samaha had represented to Plaintiffs that he would start funding the project so that demolition and renovation could move forward, but he failed to do so. Instead, Defendants Samaha and Frumkes started to pressure Plaintiffs to obtain investors in Bar Varsity. However, due to the faillure of Samaha to make the initial $500,000 investment as he previously agreed to do, Plaintiffs other potential investors declined to invest in Bar Varsity. Plaintiffs repeatedly attempted to contact and speak with Defendants… but Defendants were evasive and filed to respond to Plaintiffs attempts at communication.”

The Plaintiffs said they saw a posting at the site with the name P.U.M.P. Lounge on it in February. That venue was supposed to be opened by Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd. The “Real Housewife” stars owned and operated restaurants and nightclubs in London for decades before they relocated in Beverly Hills eight year ago.

Then, in February of this year, Plaintiffs say they first saw a posting at the location with the name P.U.M.P. Lounge on it — a venue set to be opened by the Real Housewives stars who have spent decades owning and operating restaurants and nightclubs in London before settling in Beverly Hills eight years ago. The Plaintiffs said Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd had leased the Java Detour site.

The lawsuit claims, “Plaintiff Carillo received a phone call from Carol Braidy, stating that the Java Detour Location had been leased to Defendants Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd….and indicating that the Vanderpump Defendants were not partners with Samaha.”

The Plaintiffs want millions in damages from Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd. This included compensatory damages. An emergency temporary restraining order was issued and a preliminary injunction from “demolishing, remodeling the Java Detour Location as P.U.M.P Lounge, or opening and operating the Java Detour Location as P.U.M.P. Lounge or any other entity other than Bar Varsity.”

The lawsuit said “Defendants’ misconduct was so blatant, deliberate, intentional, malicious, and with reckless disregard for the rights of the Plaintiffs.”

The Plaintiffs said Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd, along with Elie Samaha stole the location out from under them.

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