An amended court complaint filed in Wayne County 3rd Judicial Circuit Court by Lisa Wood, a former girlfriend of Ron Ilitch, now names Jimmy Shemami as a defendant along with Michael Ilitch, Little Caesar Enterprises, Inc., Ilitch Holdings, Inc., and Richard Fenton, vice president of security for Ilitch.
Among the five counts outlined in Wood's amended complaint are charges the Defendants were involved in breach of contract, negiligence and conspiracy.
Jimmy Shemami is the son of confessed Iraqi spy Najib Shemami. Wood has alleged that Jimmy Shemami was part of the team that provided personal security services to members of the Ilitch family -- namely Ronald Ilitch, the oldest son of Mike & Marian Ilitch -- at the time she was the victim of an attack by Ron Ilitch in August 2004.
Following the August 2004 assault by Ron Ilitch, Troy Police were called to the Ilitch home where Wood had been living as Ilitch's girlfriend. Once police arrived, Wood was taken by ambulance to a local hosptial for medical care and subsequently refused re-entry to the Ilitch home. When officers arrived on the scene they were told Ilitch was not home but never entered the residence.
Ron Ilitch plead "no contest" to two counts of Domestic Violence related Assault & Battery but Wood alleges in this newly amended lawsuit that the Defendants and/or those working at their direction cleaned up crime scene evidence and went through her personal effects at the Ilitch home, secreting and destroying executed contracts and supporting documents that were her personal property.
Jimmy Shemami was reportedly present following the August 2004 assault by Ron Ilitch and in subsquent court proceedings on that matter, the court singled out Shemami and ordered him to avoid having any future contact or communication with Wood.
Najib Shemami was among several Detroit-area men arrested in April 2007 and indicted on charges that he was a spy for the former government of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. He's been in custody since and on January 16th, U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy announced Shemami had admitted to spying for Saddam Hussein's government. According to the Detroit News, the elder Shemami is expected to be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Detroit on May 11th.
A search of various FaceBook.com profiles suggests that Shemami and Ilitch family members are further acquainted. It has been reported to TVT that from time-to-time Shemami family members have been hosted as guests in the owner's suites at Comerica Park and Joe Louis Arena which reportedly makes Mrs. Marian Ilitch very uneasy.
Attorneys Irwin Alterman (Kemp Klein Law Firm) and Harold Fried (Fried Saperstein Abbatt PC) are representing the Defendants in this matter. Fried also represented Ron Ilitch in the 2004 Assault & Battery incident.
Showing posts with label Irwin Alterman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Irwin Alterman. Show all posts
Monday, January 26, 2009
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Lawsuit alleges Ilitch, agents committed Conspiracy following 2004 Assault & Battery incidents
Lisa Wood, a Harrison Township (MI) woman, has filed a five count lawsuit in Wayne County's 3rd Circuit Court against Little Caesar Enterprises Inc., Michael Ilitch, his son Ronald Ilitch and including allegations of Breach of Contract, Negligence and Conspiracy. (Lisa Wood v. Little Caesar Enterprises, Michael Ilitch, et al; Case No. 08-018537-CZ).The conspiracy claims appear to be directly related to an 8.01.04 domestic violence incident in which Troy Police were called to the Caitlin Court home of Ron Ilitch. When police arrived on the scene that day they were unable to locate Ilitch. Newspaper accounts report he was later arrested and charged with two counts of assault and battery.
As reported on 8.12.04 in the Detroit Free Press that call to police was the culmination of a series of domestic violence incidents:
"According to the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, Ilitch and Wood argued at Ilitch's Troy home on Caitlin Court on June 24. He allegedly hit her, causing bruising and a swollen eye and hand. She initially did not report the incident, said Charles Claus, warrants division chief with the prosecutor's office.
"Later, they went on vacation to Colorado, Claus said. On the way, they stopped at Valley Community Hospital in Peru, Ill., where Wood was treated for her injuries, Claus said.
"On July 10, Wood reported she was assaulted again, Aurora Police Detective Larry Martinez said.
"On Aug. 1, after the couple returned, Wood told police she was assaulted a third time.
"She said Ilitch hit her in both arms. She ran from the house to a neighbor's home, called Troy police and went to a local hospital for treatment, Claus said."
This new lawsuit brought by Wood against Little Caesars, Mike Ilitch, and others alleges that Wood had been working with the Ilitches and Ilitch affiliates and agents on a new concept for their pizza businesses and that agreements had been executed to compensate Wood for her efforts.
However, as the complaint expresses, after the series of domestic violence incidents and Wood’s call to Troy police, the Ilitches and their agents took part in a conspiracy to cover up crime scene evidence and also destroy any evidence of their existing contractual relationship.
Following the 8.01.04 beating incident, Wood apparently was not personally allowed to return to Ron Ilitch’s home to retrieve her personal belongings. She says her copies of the executed agreements were among her things in the Ilitch home.
The complaint suggests that in the days immediately following the third beating, even authorities were blocked entry to the home. Wood believes Ilitch family members and their agents were working to clean up and destroy crime scene evidence in order to conceal the full extent of the crimes committed by Ron Ilitch; and that the Ilitches and their agents rifled through her personal belongings to locate and destroy the contracts and other things.
Wood believes the Ilitch crew intended to sever the contractual relationships they had previously executed with her to the point of deniability. Wood says in doing so, the Ilitches and their agents took her rightful property and robbed her of evidence to pursue legal remedies.
Although some previous news accounts wrongly suggest Ron Ilitch is not affiliated with any of the Ilitch family enterprises; in fact, since 1999 Ronald Ilitch has been a Director and Vice President of the Ilitch family's Seven I's Inc. (See: Seven I's Coporate Records) And according to Wikipedia, Ronald Ilitch was included as a "minority owner" on the Stanley Cup's Champions Roster in 2002 & 2008.
According to an Appearance document filed in this latest case, attorneys Irwin Alterman (Kemp Klein Law Firm) and Harold S. Fried (Fried Saperstein Abbatt PC) are representing the defendants.
Harold Fried represented Ron Ilitch in the 2004 assault & battery case and other actions. Following Ron Ilitch's 2004 arrest & arraignment, Fried saw to it that the matter was conducted outside of a public forum.
Fried has repeatedly represented members of the Ilitch family and several of Ilitch’s Detroit Red Wings players in potentially high profile or criminal cases during the last two decades.
Archived News Coverage of the 2004 Assault and Battery Incident:
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