They were soliciting acts.
Acts had to pay in order to get on the ticket.
To me, it was an investment.
I was one of the artists that got scammed as well.
Did he pay you back?
- Wait, are you suing him too? - Should I?
I need you to go over there,
because I think you've been scammed too, mister.
You know what, I'mma go over there.
- Let me go over there. - [laughter]
[announcer] Now on...
♪ Tribunal Justice ♪
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]
[announcer] Today's case was filed in McDonough, Georgia.
[Byrd] Now, this is case number 2086
on the account in the matter of Mullins versus Gray, Jr.
- Thank you, Byrd. - You're welcome, Judge.
Parties have been sworn in. Have a seat, have a seat, sir.
- Ms. Mullins. - [Sharita] Hi.
- Also known as Queen Rita. - Yes, ma'am.
You are a lifelong performer
but only recently you've started to make a living at it.
- You started to perform professionally. - Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.
In the course of developing your professional career,
- you hired a manager. - Yes, ma'am.
[Judge Acker] Your manager introduced you
- to the defendant. - Yes.
And the defendant advised you
- of a performing opportunity. - Correct.
A radio station in Atlanta was having a big birthday bash.
They were soliciting acts.
Acts had to pay a thousand dollars in order to get on the ticket.
In anticipation of performing at the concert,
you spent money on new clothes.
You hired a babysitter to watch your child while you were rehearsing.
So you spent $1,433 getting ready
- for the event. - Yes, ma'am.
[Judge Acker] And then as it turns out, there's no event.
The radio station had never heard of you.
You'd given the defendant a thousand dollars
- for nothing. - Yes, ma'am.
But the biggest part of your claim is for $7,500
and that's what you describe as the loss of potential income and exposure.
- Correct. - So the total amount of your claim
- against the defendant is $10,000. - Yes, ma'am.
Mr. Gray, according to you, you are but an innocent bystander
- and another victim in what was a scam. - Yes, ma'am.
And what you tell us in your answer is that you were in fact approached
by the true scam artist at issue in this case,
someone who went by the name Richie Rich.
Richie Rich hired you to go get money from people.
You did. And he's absconded with everyone's funds.
You are a victim, just like the plaintiff is a victim
and you maintain you owe her no money.
Yes, ma'am.
When you found out about the scam
and that you weren't in fact scheduled to perform,
I understand, Ms. Mullins, you fired your manager.
Yes, ma'am.
You should've fired that person in advance
because I'd like to take a look at the contract
that you submitted as evidence.
And this is a contract between you and the defendant.
When your manager told you
- about the defendant, Mr. Gray... - [Sharita] Uh-hmm.
[Judge Acker] ... had you met him before?
- [Sharita] No, ma'am. - And what did the manager tell you
by way of introduction?
So, me and my manager's relationship is I've known her since I was a kid.
She's a part of like an extended family.
But she told me that JR was into, like, putting together,
like, concerts, bringing on acts.
She's, like, literally I told her
that I wanted to be like an artist for a Birthday Bash.
I was already, like, performing,
- like, this song... - Famous Atlanta radio station,
- they're having a Birthday Bash. - It's huge.
[Judge Acker] And the concert's huge.
As a new artist, it's no better stage to be on.
[Judge Acker] Had you ever done anything like this before?
No, ma'am.
So let me talk to you for a moment, Mr. Gray.
And I wanna ask you about this contract
because the first thing I noticed about it,
it does not appear to be a contract
- between you and the plaintiff. - [Glen] Right.
It's a contract between Birthday Bash
- and you. - Yes.
[Judge Acker] And I see the plaintiff signs at the end,
but why did you give her this contract?
Well, so what happened was, Your Honor,
the individual, Rich, knew me because of my reputation,
all these shows that I've done, all the events that I've put together.
I was actually coming off of one show
that he was reached to me by a couple individuals saying
that he was a good person to work with.
Sure, sure. Who was that person?
It was actually one of the-- one of Richie's friends.
I should've vetted that, of course,
because, you know, you just gotta do proper business.
- Yeah, I just don't--it just doesn't... - But it happened. It happened.
It just doesn't sound very professional at all.
- It didn't. It didn't. - I'm trying to understand.
When do you first meet Richie Rich?
Through a phone call,
probably wanna say around March, April, FaceTime
because I'm--at the time, I'm flying in and out of Atlanta
for shows and things like that.
So what was your arrangement with him?
So out of every person that was given to pay that performance fee,
I was supposed to get, I believe it was $250 up to a thousand.
Where is the evidence of your deal with Richie Rich?
Well, that's--a lot of stuff in my phone got mishandled
and things like that but I was...
[Judge Acker] Phones back up to the cloud, friend. I'm not dumb.
And in fact, you asked him for proof
that he had actually given the money to somebody else, correct?
- Yeah, because he never told me he was. - [Judge Acker] And I'm gonna show you
the proof he gave you.
Can we put up exhibit one, please?
Now this transaction where a thousand dollars was paid
- to somebody called Love... - Uh-hmm.
...that is your evidence that you gave her money
to this mysterious shady concert promoter.
- [Glen] Exactly. - [Judge Acker] To somebody called Love.
- [Glen] Right. - Did you ever meet him in person?
- I never met him in person. - You never met him
- in person? - I never met him in person.
So how do you learn that this has all just been a big scam?
So as an artist, my thing is I have to work with my manager.
And I have been asking for a flyer,
like, you know, at least like two weeks prior to the event
so I can post and market it.
So literally it gets down to two days before the show
and I just put pressure on her to reach out to him
to get the flyers, so I can...
And that's when he says, "Oops, oh, my gosh, Richie's gone.
I can't get any money back."
Well, no, because I gave her some of her money back.
- [Judge Acker] You did? - Even though I didn't have to do that.
[Judge Acker] How much did you give her back?
I don't even recall.
- I sent it into her account. - How much money did you get back?
I think about $200.
And you say, sir, that you didn't have to
but what I find interesting is that all throughout the evidence
when she says, "Look, we have to resolve this,
you know, I wanna work it out. We can come up with payment arrangements."
- Uh-hmm. - Every time she mentions court,
you're like, "No, no, no, I'm gonna do something.
- No, no, no, I'm gonna do something." - Uh-hmm.
[Judge Acker] "No, no, no, I'm gonna help."
So you are constantly trying
- to put her off. - Uh-hmm.
But we did detective work together calling Richie...
- [Judge Acker] Detective work? - Yes. And he's...
- So here's what I... - ... yes, ma'am.
I know that if somebody hires me to go out
- and grab money for them... - Uh-hmm.
... and then they run off, I'm at least gonna call the police
and I'm gonna say I have been pulled into a scam
through no fault of my own and I wanna make a report.
- Help me find this person. - [Glen] Uh-hmm.
- [Sharita] Uh-hmm. - So there's no police report.
There's nothing to suggest that you weren't in cahoots
- with Richie Rich. - Uh-hmm.
- That you weren't Richie Rich. - Uh-hmm.
[Judge Acker] Perhaps this is a part of some larger fraud.
Judge DiMango.
I don't know how you could think any one of us
don't think you're full of [bleep].
All of this stuff about, "Oh, I work with Cool and the Gang.
I work with this one, I work with that one."
You don't have anything to show that.
- Nothing. - I do.
- [Judge DiMango] Nothing. Really, where? - I do.
We don't--do you have it?
- No. - No. We don't have that.
I'm in here defending myself, but I didn't bring that in.
Second thing you didn't bring in-- Richie Rich.
Do me a favor. Just call me Patty Pat.
Patty Pat.
[Judge DiMango] Every question that Judge Acker asked you,
she'll say, "What about this?"
You go, "Oh, I was flying in and out of Atlanta that day.
You know, I've done multiple times."
And then another question, "Oh, well, I was representing Cool
and the Gang and this one and that one."
- I mean, that's all you could do. - Never said Cool and the Gang.
- [Judge DiMango] I couldn't remember
the name of the thing.
I'm not that hip myself.
[laughter]
- [Glen] Cool and the Gang. - [Judge Acker] I'm sorry.
Something cool I saw in this list of names.
I don't know who they were.
[Judge Acker] She was rolling a couple decades before that.
I'm just throwing some decades behind me.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
- Show me one screenshot that you took. - Well, I'm gonna be honest with you,
I didn't bring his evidence for me.
I brought my evidence to defend my situation and also to...
[Judge DiMango] I don't need you to defend your situation.
You're not even on trial here.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Sharita Mullins is suing Glen Gray, Jr. for $10,000.
Sharita claims Glen scammed her
into believing that she was going to be performing
with famous singers at a music event.
Glen claims he's also a victim of the same scam,
so he owes her nothing.
You're a guy who claims in your papers here
that you really work with top artists, right?
- Yes, ma'am, I do. - [Judge DiMango] You're the man.
And here, you don't even verify
who these people are.
You were so happy to get money from her
and from this other fella, Bossy Dog or Googie Dog,
what was his name?
- Boss Dog. - [Lonnie] Boss Dog. Right.
- Boss Dog. Is that you? - Yeah, that's me.
Now, Googie Dog is like that. I might LLC that.
That's dope.
So you who work for Bossy Dog and all these other people,
you kind of just take money from everybody.
- No, ma'am. - And then instead of sending it
to Richie Rich,
you send your $1,000
to a very respectful business name--Love.
- Right? - No.
[Judge DiMango] And then lo and behold, Love screws you.
- Yeah. - [Sharita] Oh, my God.
A lot of cases it does, Your Honor.
[Judge DiMango] You know what, Bossy, come on up here.
[Lonnie] Please. Thank you.
Please. You gotta defend yourself.
- Because I want you, Boss Dog... - [Lonnie] Bro, this is crazy, bruh.
... to tell us what you're doing here today.
Well, just like Rita, I thought I was in the dark.
And initially I thought JR was someone I could trust
due to on social media seeing he was involved
- with different artists that we knew. - [Judge DiMango] He wasn't involved
with anybody on social media.
- Show me one screenshot that you took. - Well, I'm gonna be honest with you,
I didn't bring his evidence for me.
- I brought my evidence, so... - [Judge DiMango] Yeah.
... I can't really bring his--
if that man didn't bring his evidence, I don't know.
[Judge DiMango] Wait, are you suing him too?
- I don't know. Should I? - [Judge DiMango] I know. I know.
So what kind of evidence are you gonna bring?
- You're not suing him. - No. I brought evidence
to defend my situation and also to...
[Judge DiMango] I don't need you to defend your situation.
What are you defending? You're not even on trial here.
- Judge DiMango is no joke. - [Judge DiMango] Patty Pat.
- Patty Pat. Googie Goo. - Go.
So basically, Rita is suing JR.
However, I was one of the artists that got scammed as well.
I was told by JR that I could trust Rich
- and then I got the contract from Rich. - Sure, because he is Rich.
I was on a--I was on a FaceTime with Rich for two seconds
- and it was two different people. - [Judge DiMango] Two seconds?
Yeah, I actually have evidence that I submitted.
So we have a picture of you talking to a face that...
[Lonnie] To the person who claims to be Rich,
because at the time, I felt like it was iffy business.
So I screenshotted it along with a screenshot of Miranda as well.
So seriously, why would you not think
that JR here was not in the scam with him?
I'mma be honest with you, towards the tail end,
- I started to think he was involved too. - [Judge DiMango] Yes,
- I think you're going right. - I ain't gonna front.
Towards the tail end, I started thinking that.
I think--you know what, I think you should change tables.
Have a seat. No, Doggy Dog, I'm only kidding.
- Have a seat. - Oh, okay.
[laughter]
I like Judge DiMango.
Oh, I'm glad you do. I know your buddy here JR doesn't.
You're a scammer.
[laughter]
Judge Levy.
[Judge Levy] Listen, I'll keep an open mind.
You tell me how it is
that you're not part of this scam with Richie Rich.
For me, sir, I'm not-- I'm not trying to be funny.
A thousand dollars to me,
that's some money but it's not enough for me to try to go
and do something scam-ish.
But I knew the opportunity
for a thousand dollars to get on a show like this
with all those top artists and I did...
Well, you were--listen, you weren't doing that for nothing.
You were taking 25% of her money.
Well, more than anything, let me tell you why I did that.
- Because hold on one second. - Yeah.
Did he tell you though that he was gonna keep $250
of your thousand dollars?
No. I mean, he told me nothing about this other person at all.
- [Judge Levy] Okay. - Totally unknown.
So what I did, as we began to talk, I felt bad.
So I decided, I said, "Listen, if he doesn't pay you back,
I will try to compensate all..."
[Judge Levy] No, not I'm gonna try to compensate.
What did he tell you in a text message?
He said it wasn't his fault.
[Judge Levy] "And if Richie doesn't pay you back, I will."
- [Lonnie] Right. - [Judge Levy] Did he pay you back?
No, I was told by JR--
what I was told was that, um...
You need to be on that side, fam. I don't know why you on this side.
- You can go right there. - You know what, I'mma go over there.
- Yeah, please let him go over there. - Let me go over there.
- You don't need to be on this side. - You got to sit on this side.
- [Glen] [indistinct] gave Richie or... - So, basically, um...
[Glen] ... whatever his [indistinct] the money,
so why am I being questioned about that?
I was told that from JR to trust Richie,
you understood what I'm saying?
So this man right here tells you
to trust the man that he's never met.
- Right? - At the time, I wasn't aware.
- I was unaware of that. - [Judge Levy] Hold on.
Wait, actually when she gave you a thousand dollars
and you had a deal with Richie Rich to keep 25%,
you kept 250 in your pocket and you only sent him 750.
- [Lonnie] Uh-hmm. - Seven--no, I sent him a thousand.
Why would you give him the whole thousand if 250 of that was yours?
Unfortunately, I didn't get the 250
because I gave a--why would I send that to [indistinct]...
[Judge Levy] Well, first of all what you claim you sent,
there's no evidence of that.
If in fact you were not a part and parcel of this scam,
and I'm not saying that you were.
- That's what you sound [indistinct]. - No, I'm saying
that if you weren't, you know what you would've done?
You would've given her a thousand bucks and you would've called the cops.
Why didn't you call the cops?
So the reason why I did not call the cops,
I didn't know who the--who-- what the guy's name was.
Uh, after all this time...
[Judge Levy] Oh, that's a great idea.
You know, because cops don't know anything about investigating.
- [Glen] They don't. - Cops don't know anything
about learning people's true identity, right?
- In our business, it doesn't work like... - Cops don't have any of that.
- In our business it don't work like that. - [Judge Levy] You had a cell phone.
- It don't work like that. - You know what you get with a cell phone?
- Your 31 years, you did that, right? - Yes.
Is there any way that police can figure out someone's name
- and the plan they're on? - Yes.
Oh, so it would seem to me
if I were in your shoes,
the reason I would not wanna go to the police
is because I would not want the police to do their investigation
and come back to...
- You. - ... you.
- What do you mean? Come back to me? - [Judge Levy] What do I mean?
You are the connecting piece to everything with Richie Rich.
And the police would've looked at you as a potential suspect,
and you didn't want that heat.
You didn't want them to look at you.
First of all, I do not take anything away from my negligence
of trying to find out who I was working with at the time.
Unfortunately, it cost at the risk of Rita.
Me and Rita had a arrangement, I was gonna do it,
but because our conversation got a little heated,
I say, "You know what, hey, listen, I was gonna pay you back
but because the way you're talking to me, let's just go to court then.
- That's fine, let's do it." You know? - [Judge Levy] I got it. I got it.
Well, you got it. Do what you have to do, Judge.
You know what? I change my mind about you.
- You are absolutely part of this. - [Glen] Okay.
- I'm done. - [Glen] That's fine.
May we have the Chime witness, please?
Could you please state your name for the record?
Miranda Williams.
[Judge Acker] Thank you, Ms. Williams.
Now according to your independent witness statement,
you were employed by Richie Rich.
In what capacity were you working with him?
So I had just recently moved to Atlanta and was looking for work.
He approached me, said, "Okay, let's--um, let me try and help you.
I got a position. You can be my assistant."
How did he approach you? Did he approach you in person?
Did he call you? Or was it online?
No. He messaged me through Facebook.
Did you ever meet him in person?
Yes.
What were you doing for him? What kind of work were you doing for him?
Um, so I was sending out contracts.
I was scheduling timeslots with the artist
that he was getting signed up in order to perform at the Birthday Bash.
I was collecting payments, I was answering the phone,
I was running errands.
What raised your concerns? What made you suspicious?
Well, um, I had conversations with, uh, Boss Dog.
He was like, "Miranda, this doesn't sound right.
I'm in the music industry."
And he kind of put up the red flags that I wouldn't have seen.
[Judge Acker] In your witness statement,
you indicate that Mr. Rich owes you
about $10,000 in back wages.
Did he ever pay you anything?
No.
Was there ever a period in time where you said,
"I need to call the police"?
- No, ma'am. - [Judge Acker] Why not?
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
Was the individual who you knew as "Richie Rich,"
was that the same person as the defendant, Mr. Gray here?
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Sharita Mullins is suing Glen Gray, Jr. for $10,000.
Sharita claims Glen scammed her
into believing that she was going to be performing
with famous singers at a music event.
Glen claims he's also a victim of the same scam.
[Judge Acker] In your witness statement,
you indicate that Mr. Rich owes you
about $10,000 in back wages.
- Did he ever pay you anything? - No.
Was there ever a period in time where you said,
"I need to call the police"?
- No, ma'am. - [Judge Acker] Why not?
Because I didn't know if it was really legit
or if it was a scam.
Um, and in my personal life, I just wanted to leave it all alone.
Was the individual who you knew as "Richie Rich,"
was that the same person as the defendant, Mr. Gray here?
- No. - [Judge Acker] Great. Thank you.
I don't have anything further.
[Judge DiMango] That's it. Thank you very much.
- We're gonna retire to deliberate. - [Sharita] Can I please--I have evidence,
a song that I co-wrote, and I wanted y'all to play it, please.
- [Judge DiMango] Oh, I wanna see it. - [Judge Levy] Yeah.
- Yay, thank you. - [Judge Levy] Yeah. Let's see it.
[Sharita] ♪ Go tell your lover ♪
♪ Tell your friends this time around, we're gonna end ♪
♪ When you messed around, you messed up my mind ♪
♪ You had me thinking that ♪
♪ Together we'd be building something ♪
♪ But everything got out of control ♪
♪ No one else gonna know... ♪
- Thank you all so much. - Well done.
Thank you.
- [Judge Acker] Well done. - [Judge DiMango] Great.
- You have a lot of talent. - [Sharita] Thank you.
We're gonna retire to deliberate at this time.
- Thank you all. - [Sharita] Okay. Thank you all.
- [Judge Levy] All right. - Court now stands in recess.
This case will be recalled. Parties are excused.
[dramatic musical sting]
So I think that, irrespective of whether or not he was clearly in on it,
or whether or not he was just, uh, I won't mince words, stupid.
I mean, how do you ask for money on behalf of somebody else
when you don't even know their name?
It defies logic and common sense.
He certainly owes her the money.
She gave him a thousand, he returned 200.
It's at least $800.
She's also asking for the money that she spent to prepare.
- I think she's entitled to that. - [Judge DiMango] Yeah. I agree.
You know, it was a big concert, it was promoted to her as a big deal.
She acted reasonably and relying on that and saying, "I wanna be ready."
Now the more difficult element of her damages are the $7,500
that she says that she was deprived of in potential income and exposure.
I think that's a bit speculative, you know?
We don't know how much money she would've made,
we don't know what the exposure ultimately,
uh, would've translated into economically.
But I'm certainly comfortable with prep fees,
uh, plus the balance of the thousand dollars.
[Judge DiMango] I'm totally onboard.
And I think it's speculative as to whether or not,
you know, she would've, uh, gotten any income from this and how much.
I almost wish she would've asked for punitive damages instead
because I really think that he is a major part of the scam.
And I would've liked to have penalized him in some way.
But I definitely wanna give her back what she spent.
And you know a good legal issue that we'll just thrown in?
The defendant told the plaintiff via text
that he would make good on that thousand dollars.
He was going to pay that back.
And as we know, uh, an oral agreement
to cover the debt of someone else is not enforceable.
But he put it in writing, and there was a legitimate basis for that repayment
because he knows he was responsible for it,
so he loses that on two separate grounds.
Number one, he was negligent
in not confirming who he was sending her money to.
And number two, he promised to pay it back and he put that promise in writing.
- We're unanimous. - Uh, $2,233.
- Perfect. - Very good.
[dramatic musical sting]
[Byrd] Court is back in session.
I'll remind parties you're still under oath.
- Thank you, Birdie Byrd. - Uh-hmm.
[Judge Acker] Ms. Mullins, you gave this man a thousand dollars.
That money allegedly went to somebody who scammed everybody.
As Judge Levy pointed out, if it really had gone to that person,
he would've kept $250 and then given the balance to Rich.
So, all of that was suspicious.
But you know what, Mr. Gray, uh, I don't even have to go that far.
I mean, you yourself acknowledge, at a minimum, it's negligence.
Grabbing money from other people
for somebody whose name you say you don't even know.
But frankly there's some suspicion that more than that happened.
Ms. Mullins, you are entitled to the $800
which is the remainder of the money that he still owes you.
You're entitled to the $1,433
that you spent in anticipation
of what was supposed to be a really big event.
And then a big part of your claim for relief was $7,500
for money that you believe you would've made
if this had all gone out,
the costs of the lost exposure.
We don't have any evidence.
We don't know what you ultimately might have made
or what that exposure would've translated to in terms of dollars.
So there really isn't a legal path to compensate you for that.
That would be speculative.
But before you go,
um, Boss Dog, AKA "Googie Dog"...
- Uh-huh. - ... has something else
- that he wants to say. - Oh, yes.
Just to make it all make sense, I had a great time here,
but I submitted music as well.
And I was one of the artists who got scammed by Rich.
And, you know, it could've been a even bigger break for me as well.
- So... - So give us something.
Um, I think they have it here.
- They could play it for you. - I thought you wanted to do it right...
You want me to rap right now?
Yeah, why don't you just do it live?
- [Lonnie] Um... - [Sharita] Hey.
I was--can we do both?
- I could do both. - [Judge Acker] It's not a concert.
- This is not Coachella. This is like... - Okay. So--well, you know what?
I told--I told my mother she's gonna see it.
- So yeah, you know? - All right. Let's see the--
let's see the video. Let's see the video.
Money earnin'.
[Lonnie] ♪ Brooklyn, Queens, do your thing ♪
♪ The Bronx, Harlem, do your thing ♪
♪ Money earnin' ♪
♪ We do our thing ♪
♪ And we can't forget about White Plains, do your thing ♪
♪ Well, we can't forget about New York thing ♪♪
- [Judge Acker] Yay for New York. - [Judge DiMango] Well done.
- For New York. That's a fact. - [Judge Acker] [indistinct] New York.
- Yeah, okay. - [Lonnie] Definitely. Definitely.
Very nice job. Two great performers here.
Judgment, ma'am, is in your favor for $2,233.
Good luck to both of you.
- [Sharita] Thank you. - [Lonnie] Thank you.
- Sir, you need to do better. - [gavel bangs]
[Byrd] Court is now concluded. Parties are excused.
You may step out.
[theme music plays]
Hmm. It was very frustrating and super embarrassing.
I got kinda sad for a minute.
Uh, unfortunately, I rushed too fast with this individual.
And some people got burned.
But I'mma be honest.
Like, JR should've, you know, defended himself better.
Uh, for me, it's definitely a learning experience.
I'm looking forward to just being able to continue my growth
in my journey and what I got going on.
♪ Thank you, Tribunal Justice ♪
[announcer] Have you been scammed?
Let the majority rule in your favor on Tribunal Justice.
Find us on social media.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]