MIAMI – Bruce Springsteen‘s drummer, Max Weinberg, is suing the homeowners of a South Florida motor vehicle restoration firm, expressing they stole $125,000 by falsely promising him a like-new 1957 Mercedes-Benz and then employing his funds for particular costs.
Weinberg is trying to get $375,000 from Arthur Siegle, customers of his relatives and their Expenditure Automotive Team Inc. in a lawsuit filed Sunday in Palm Beach front County.
The Mercedes-Benz 190SL roadster they claimed they could provide had substantial harm and rust, and they knew it could not be restored to like-new situation when they took Weinberg’s $125,000 deposit just about a few yrs ago, in accordance to the lawsuit.
A subsequent legislation enforcement investigation concluded that the Siegles utilised little or no dollars from Weinberg’s deposit on restoring the automobile, but instead paid off credit history playing cards and made deposits to personalized accounts. No criminal costs have been filed.
“I guess they figured he’s Max Weinberg, million-greenback drummer for Bruce Springsteen, Mighty Max. He can manage to reduce $125,000,” Weinberg’s attorney, Valentin Rodriguez, mentioned Tuesday.
Siegle “thought he could pull the wool above the eyes of anyone who is rather effectively-regarded and wealthy, but Max wasn’t just likely to sit down and consider it,” Rodriguez mentioned. He mentioned Weinberg is not an expert on vintage automobiles but has just normally wished to individual 1.
Peter Weintraub, the Siegles’ legal professional, did not answer to an e-mail trying to get comment.
Weinberg, 72, is the longtime drummer in Springsteen’s E Street Band and led Conan O’Brien’s band when he hosted “Late Night” and “The Tonight Exhibit.” The musician now tours with his individual exhibit, Max Weinberg’s Jukebox. He is suing beneath a Florida legislation that will allow triple damages for intentional theft.
In accordance to the lawsuit, Weinberg suggests that in April 2021, he contacted Siegle and his son, Stuart Siegle, about a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 190SL he recognized they have been restoring. The 190SL is a convertible produced from 1955 to 1963.
Weinberg suggests he informed the Siegles he desired a Mercedes he could enter at Concours-degree demonstrates, which function vehicles that have been restored to like-new or far better situation making use of just about solely primary parts. The Siegles certain him the 190SL they were being restoring would satisfy that regular and would be a “get the job done of art” and “greatest of the ideal,” he suggests.
He paid out them $125,000, a down payment on the $225,000 sale cost. The balance would be paid out when the car was concluded.
Within just weeks, Weinberg grew to become worried about the motor vehicle and employed an specialist to examine it at the Siegles’ store. The specialist, Pierre Hedary, observed sizeable rust, welds that had been improperly designed, evidence that the automobile experienced been in incident and various other major troubles. He claimed the vehicle was not even a 1957 as the Siegles claimed, but a 1956.
In a report submitted with the lawsuit, Hedary wrote that when restored, the auto could be pushed and impress laypeople but would not move scrutiny at best-stage vehicle exhibits. He estimated its restored truly worth at $120,000, about half what the Siegles claimed.
He said the Siegles’ statements that the auto would be a “perform of artwork” and “ideal of the greatest” are generally “the most egregious sort of puffery unfortunately at situations shown all through the traditional/vintage motorcar market.”
When the Siegles refused to refund Weinberg’s dollars, he filed a criticism with the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
In a 2022 report filed with the lawsuit, Detective Scott Schaefer wrote that his investigation confirmed that following acquiring Weinberg’s dollars, the Siegles deposited virtually all of it into personal accounts with virtually $50,000 masking credit score card and other private payments.
“I did not uncover any transactions that could have been attributed to the get the job done becoming finished on (Weinberg’s) auto,” Schaefer wrote.
He claimed it is attainable they paid dollars for pieces, but he noticed no proof of that.
Schaefer wrote that when he confronted Arthur Siegle with Weinberg’s accusations, he responded, “I have no strategy what this person is complaining about nor do I actually care.”
Schaefer recommended that Arthur Siegle be charged with grand theft. The Broward State Attorney’s Business office claimed Tuesday the situation remains beneath review.
