The Following was Issued by Representatives of R. Kelly: Promoter of Last R. Kelly...

The Following was Issued by Representatives of R. Kelly: Promoter of Last R.
Kelly Tour Sued for Scamming Investors; Kelly Was Also Swindled, and Promises
to Fight for Victims

CHICAGO, April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Representatives of R&B superstar R.
Kelly announced today that yet another lawsuit has been filed against promoter
Leonard Rowe, charging him with bilking investors out of hundreds of thousands
of dollars by selling them non-existent shares in R. Kelly's recently
completed "Double Up" Tour.
Filed in Atlanta on April 11 by Milton Kenneth Peacock of Bowie, Maryland,
the suit describes a scheme in which unwary investors were promised half the
profits from three Kelly concerts in late December and early January in return
for a cash investment of $440,000. After the concerts, the investors were
allegedly presented with what was described as a false accounting showing that
the concerts had lost money, as a result of which there were no profits to be
paid out.
At least two other lawsuits have been filed against Rowe in the last three
months, alleging similar scams involving other Kelly concerts.
Along with Rowe, whose Atlanta-based company Rowe Entertainment promoted
the "Double Up" tour, this latest suit also named Kelly as a defendant, even
though as the complaint makes clear, he was not a party to the fraudulent
contracts -- and indeed knew nothing about them until the victims of Rowe's
scam began coming forward.
In fact, Kelly himself has been victimized by Rowe. In February, Kelly
initiated legal action against the promoter for failing to pay Kelly several
million dollars in tour proceeds he was owed. Rowe thereupon dropped out of
sight, leaving Kelly with a choice of canceling the last ten days of the tour
or playing the dates with no prospect of being paid. Not wanting to disappoint
his fans, Kelly decided to complete the tour-in effect, performing for free.
"I agreed to let Leonard Rowe promote my tour because he convinced me he
was an underdog who deserved a chance to prove himself," Kelly said this week.
"Like the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. I have complete sympathy
for all of the good people who were swindled by Rowe and I will do everything
I can to help them get their money back from him."
Kelly's contract with Rowe expressly barred the promoter from selling off
shares in Kelly's shows. The victims of his scam never saw the real contract,
apparently accepting Rowe's assurances that he had the right to sell them a
percentage of the proceeds. In fact, he did not.
SOURCE R. Kelly

Allan Mayer of 42West, +1-310-477-4442, for R. Kelly