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Double Bass Kolstein Legal issues
- Thread starter DaveMFM
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I thought Manny had gone into the shop, grabbed instruments and raided Barrie's office file cabinet and ran off with a computer, and the stores staff wouldn't help him remove said items.
Even if Manny did give his father the keys, what does his father know of who's property is acceptable to grab and what's in for repair, and not kolsteins property to just take to Florida?.
Manny should just give up ownership, or sell it back. There's no good end for him in this business, Barrie may be able to salvage the business enough to make it marketable for a new owner to come in and take over.
Even if Manny did give his father the keys, what does his father know of who's property is acceptable to grab and what's in for repair, and not kolsteins property to just take to Florida?.
Manny should just give up ownership, or sell it back. There's no good end for him in this business, Barrie may be able to salvage the business enough to make it marketable for a new owner to come in and take over.
Well I said previously that this seemed to be in criminal territory and here we are. There is so much to unpack here.
First, what a stand up guy putting his dad in the middle of all of this. I mean, wow. Just wow.
Second, even if Manny paid $750K to Barrie Kolstein (and the allegations are that he never paid anything other than the initial payment which seems entirely credible given he stopped paying his landlords, including Barrie), he still hasn't performed his contract which calls for him to pay over $1MM for the business (over time).
Third, regardless of the business itself, these specific basses are noted in a consignment agreement as being Barrie's physical assets and Manny was supposed to sell these on consignment, per another agreement which he is alleged to have breached. Notably, per the agreement, these were also supposed to remain in Baldwin.
Fourth, this inventory, which based on the pictures attached to Barrie's legal complaint as exhibits seem to be the preponderance of inventory in the shop, has been moved to an "undisclosed location in Florida," yet all other known locations have closed with no announcements for planned new locations. But we know Manny bought a house in Florida with an outbuilding. Hmm...
Fifth: "He apparently convinced detectives this is his store," Alvarez said. "But I have yet to see any formal paperwork." This statement is somewhat absurd on its face. It is in fact Barrie's store inasmuch as he owns the shop and much of the inventory and both are very well documented, for example in his lawsuit against Manny. Manny did not dispute that fact in his countersuit, nor did he claim to have paid Kolstein out for the business. Rather, he claimed that Barrie tricked him into buying the company. Counterclaim is attached.
Sixth, optically this is just really bad, especially considering that Barrie's and Manny's lawyers were going back and forth and appear to have agreed in principle on a deal where Manny could get out of the deal with remaining debt forgiven so as to give Barrie the opportunity to wind the business down with dignity. Then Manny does all this. Based on the fact pattern, it is not surprising to me that an arrest has been made.
Seventh, we don't know where the basses are. In a past post, I said that I wouldn't be surprised if the basses get destroyed as this latest action seems to be one of desperation and anger. Manny has not said to the press "These are now at another store at X location." The report simply says they are at an unknown location in Florida. Again, optically really bad.
Lastly, I am not a lawyer so if any are reading perhaps they can opine, but it should be noted that the instruments have crossed state lines. So this, coupled with the significant value of the inventory that Manny acknowledges having moved, has the potential to become a federal crime if law enforcement is indeed pulling at the thread.
Fasten your seatbelts everyone...
First, what a stand up guy putting his dad in the middle of all of this. I mean, wow. Just wow.
Second, even if Manny paid $750K to Barrie Kolstein (and the allegations are that he never paid anything other than the initial payment which seems entirely credible given he stopped paying his landlords, including Barrie), he still hasn't performed his contract which calls for him to pay over $1MM for the business (over time).
Third, regardless of the business itself, these specific basses are noted in a consignment agreement as being Barrie's physical assets and Manny was supposed to sell these on consignment, per another agreement which he is alleged to have breached. Notably, per the agreement, these were also supposed to remain in Baldwin.
Fourth, this inventory, which based on the pictures attached to Barrie's legal complaint as exhibits seem to be the preponderance of inventory in the shop, has been moved to an "undisclosed location in Florida," yet all other known locations have closed with no announcements for planned new locations. But we know Manny bought a house in Florida with an outbuilding. Hmm...
Fifth: "He apparently convinced detectives this is his store," Alvarez said. "But I have yet to see any formal paperwork." This statement is somewhat absurd on its face. It is in fact Barrie's store inasmuch as he owns the shop and much of the inventory and both are very well documented, for example in his lawsuit against Manny. Manny did not dispute that fact in his countersuit, nor did he claim to have paid Kolstein out for the business. Rather, he claimed that Barrie tricked him into buying the company. Counterclaim is attached.
Sixth, optically this is just really bad, especially considering that Barrie's and Manny's lawyers were going back and forth and appear to have agreed in principle on a deal where Manny could get out of the deal with remaining debt forgiven so as to give Barrie the opportunity to wind the business down with dignity. Then Manny does all this. Based on the fact pattern, it is not surprising to me that an arrest has been made.
Seventh, we don't know where the basses are. In a past post, I said that I wouldn't be surprised if the basses get destroyed as this latest action seems to be one of desperation and anger. Manny has not said to the press "These are now at another store at X location." The report simply says they are at an unknown location in Florida. Again, optically really bad.
Lastly, I am not a lawyer so if any are reading perhaps they can opine, but it should be noted that the instruments have crossed state lines. So this, coupled with the significant value of the inventory that Manny acknowledges having moved, has the potential to become a federal crime if law enforcement is indeed pulling at the thread.
Fasten your seatbelts everyone...
link not working - can someone find whatever this should be linked to?
Devils advocate here but it’s possible that Barry is not of sound mind considering his bereavement and age.
In decades past he was known as a shrewd (sometimes ruthless?) businessman who definitely has an ego.
Given that this is still in the courts and there have been no definitive rulings, maybe we should all take a breath.
I have no skin in this except I’ve used Kostein rosin in past and played a couple of his basses.
In decades past he was known as a shrewd (sometimes ruthless?) businessman who definitely has an ego.
Given that this is still in the courts and there have been no definitive rulings, maybe we should all take a breath.
I have no skin in this except I’ve used Kostein rosin in past and played a couple of his basses.
I think we are all looking at these allegations as being allegations until we learn otherwise.
That said, the court documents are quite compelling when you read them and the fact that there have been multiple similar claims by various parties over the past year or so makes this all quite noteworthy, hence this thread.
I am watching this all unfold with great interest.
That said, the court documents are quite compelling when you read them and the fact that there have been multiple similar claims by various parties over the past year or so makes this all quite noteworthy, hence this thread.
I am watching this all unfold with great interest.
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Original article which MSM syndicated:
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If they are in an "outbuilding" in Florida, with no climate control, they could be damaged. It's about 94 F with 70% humidity today.
In was under the impression that his house had an adjacent dwelling unit that was air conditioned.
Agreed, however the speculation by some that Manny (or Barry for that matter) would purposely destroy the instruments instead of abiding by the court rulings seems a little outrageous.
I’m actually really curious to hear about (or from) the buyers of the basses that were purportedly sold on consignment. Did they buy them from Manny or Barry, what were the terms of the purchase, etc.
We’ve posted some of the lawsuits here in this thread.
Website still shows store as open, they do allot of school rentals, must have dozens of instruments still out till at least end of June.
Wonder if the store is open for regular business as if any of this isn't happening... Is Barrie still there, does Manny stop in??.
Do they take in repairs?, I'd be worried you drop your instrument off and go back to find an empty storefront.
The people in the shop must be worried as well.
Wonder if the store is open for regular business as if any of this isn't happening... Is Barrie still there, does Manny stop in??.
Do they take in repairs?, I'd be worried you drop your instrument off and go back to find an empty storefront.
The people in the shop must be worried as well.
Lawsuits are by definition one sided. I’m interested in the buyers experiences too. What was the nature of that transaction and who were they actually doing business with.
We can all agree that having your bass in someone else’s possession or unaccounted for has got to be traumatic, as recounted here-
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/my-experience-with-kolstein-music.1666415/
Agreed. I think the consensus is also that there appear to be patterns. You cite an example above. There is also this which thankfully didn’t have to go to litigation:
I believe both sides (Manny and Barrie) are due in court on 6/9 so assuming both do appear, we should all know more relatively soon.
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store front was open when I called recently.
They don't have as many school rentals as you think.
Word spread long before the criminal story that their quality dropped, which was right after manny took over.
their rentals in the Barrie era were very nice. In-house imported instruments with properly fit tuning pegs and fine tuners that worked. That all stopped under new ownership, and they started giving my students chinese junk. I personally know probably a dozen teachers who noticed this and stopped using or recommending them for rentals.
we have another regular music shop 4 miles away from the baldwin shop, sam ash, music & arts, a very reputable violin shop on the north shore....
lots of other placed to get good instruments, or chinese junk for cheaper.
Barrie does seem to have a pretty good case that he owns a lot of those instruments. Manny's only justification can be that he's taking what's his, but Barrie literally has the receipts. This just keeps getting weirder and dumber.
I'm the seller of a bass on consignment through Kolstein. Short version, I left it there when Barrie owned the place. It sold, under Manny's ownership. No one told me until the buyer messaged me through here saying "surprised to see your ad on talkbass, because I bought that months before you put it up." A long series of emails and phone calls later, I got most of the money I should have gotten. (But I took it, because I saw the eviction proceedings for the Manhattan location and figured he's cash-strapped.)
As far as I know, the buyer had a perfectly normal interaction: he handed over a lot of money, got the receipt, and the bass, done. Nothing unusual at all.
yes - i have every reason to believe the purchase process is the same as walking into any other retail location. if you happen to not know of this situation, i don't see how it would be unusual in any way.
Something in the recent article had been nagging at me so I went back to the article and keyed in on this paragraph:
The senior Alvarez was slapped with third-degree burglary, first-degree grand larceny, and fourth-degree criminal facilitation — charges that his son called "completely bogus."
It’s that last charge of fourth degree criminal facilitation. If he is charged with facilitating a crime, is it not implied that he facilitated the crime for someone else? If so, wouldn’t that implicate Manny criminally as he instructed his dad to take the instruments?
If any lawyers out there are reading this, it would really be great to get your point of view and perspective here based on the charges!
The senior Alvarez was slapped with third-degree burglary, first-degree grand larceny, and fourth-degree criminal facilitation — charges that his son called "completely bogus."
It’s that last charge of fourth degree criminal facilitation. If he is charged with facilitating a crime, is it not implied that he facilitated the crime for someone else? If so, wouldn’t that implicate Manny criminally as he instructed his dad to take the instruments?
If any lawyers out there are reading this, it would really be great to get your point of view and perspective here based on the charges!
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