A Bridgeport federal judge has ordered a Stamford talent agent to pay $1.2 million because he failed to produce pop singer Justin Timberlake for a concert in Manila two years ago.
According to the February lawsuit, a Filipino promoter paid agent Kofi Degraft Johnson a $437,500 deposit to showcase Timberlake at a purported Nov. 15, 2008 concert in the Philippines.
The singer never appeared and Johnson never appeared in court to defend himself against the suit, a lawyer in the case says.
Russell Green, the Milford lawyer for promoter Arnold Vegafria, president of ALV Events International, said U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill ordered Johnson to pay $1,165,274.04 to Vegafria’s firm.
“Mr. Vegafria was consistently led to believe that Justin Timberlake was willing and able and, in fact, eager, to perform at the special concert being arranged in Manila,” Green said in a statement. “It is gratifying that the judge agreed this is a clear case of breach of contract, misrepresentation and theft.”
An email sent to Timberlake’s representatives was not immediately answered.
Efforts to locate Johnson for comment were unsuccessful.
