Leonard Cohen sues business manager

Sixties legend Leonard Cohen has sued his business manager and a tax lawyer for $5 million, claiming breach of contract, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and professional negligence.  Cohen says that the two took advantage of him by looting or mismanaging his estate and his retirement accounts while he was engaging in his spiritual life at a Los Angeles Zen center.

Kelley Lynch had been Cohen’s business manager for 17 years she was fired by the Canadian-born songwriter.  According to the rather florid complaint:

This civil action is another case of a tragedy that has become all too familiar in the music industry — a business manager and professional advisers exploit an immensely talented artist’s loyalty and trust through greed, self-dealing, concealment, knowing misrepresentation and reckless disregard for professional fiduciary duties.

[Frank Snyder]