Spector, Assistant Settle Embezzlement Suit

Wed., Dec. 13, 2006 7:44 PM PST by Natalie Finn

If there's anyone in need of a little more mad money, it's Phil Spector.

It turns out the legally hung-up music producer reached a tentative $900,000 settlement agreement in October in his lawsuit against a former assistant, whom he accused of embezzling more than $1 million from his personal accounts.

Defendant Michelle Blaine, however, has been tangling with business partner Nori Takei over the terms of the deal since signing the court papers Oct. 19.

Takei, who owns half of 3:15 Productions and BT Productions—which were supposedly formed to handle Spector's upcoming creative ventures—has expressed concern that, along with the cash, Spector might now have partial control over his and Blaine's companies.

Takei vs. Blaine then took center stage, with Blaine's attorneys eventually requesting that they be allowed to withdraw from the case. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lee Smalley Edmon granted the motion Wednesday, despite Takei's objections. (The firm of Reuben, Raucher & Blum will continue to rep Blaine individually.)

Spector, meanwhile, is looking to move forward with the settlement ASAP, perhaps because the deal also contains Blaine's assurance that she will drop her sexual harassment countersuit against him, which she filed Mar. 24.

"I have heard nothing and I am now getting pressure from my client to have the judgment entered so we can move on," Spector's attorney, Robert Levinson, wrote in an email to Blaine's lawyers, which was included in court documents related to the case. His camp is also asking for more than $3,800 in attorney fees.

Spector had accused Blaine in September 2005 of funneling $425,000 from his pension fund and failing to repay a $635,000 loan.

Blaine, who started working for Spector in October 2003, maintained that part of the $425,000 was money earmarked for a film in the works called 3:15—an uplifting tale written by Takei about a teacher helping underprivileged children that was meant to polish her former boss' tarnished image—and the $635,000 was a gift.

The remaining portion of the $425,000 was to buy and spruce up a motor home for Spector to use while commuting to and from his Alhambra mansion once his upcoming murder trial starts, Blaine stated in court documents. He okayed the wire transfer himself, she said.

Another hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5.

Takei's attorney, Pamela Koslyn, told Judge Edmon that her client and Blaine are on speaking terms again and may be close to resolving their differences.

Which would be at least one less thing for Spector to worry about.

The famed creator of the classic Wall of Sound production technique is currently free on $1 million bail while he awaits the start of his much-delayed criminal trial. Spector, who is accused of the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson, is now scheduled to face the music Mar. 5.