Calvin Harris Wins $13.5M Payout in Victory Against Ex-Manager

Photo Credit: Carlos Delgado / CC by 3.0

Calvin Harris has just won $13.5 million in a loan dispute with his former advisor, but the remaining legal battle over $12 million in equity investments continues.

Calvin Harris scored a win in his ongoing legal war with his former financial advisor, Thomas St. John, whom he accused of embezzling millions from the DJ back in September. Though he’s getting back a cool $13 million, the Scottish artist still has another legal battle against St. John ahead of him.

On Thursday, January 15, an arbiter in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County ordered St. John and his related entities to pay Harris $13,438,666.55 to satisfy a defaulted loan. The amount covers the initial $10 million Harris invested plus interest, late charges, administrative fees, and more, ensuring the DJ gets back his funds.

But the overall battle continues in arbitration regarding the additional $12 million-plus Harris invested in St. John-led projects. Then there’s also the allegations that St. John committed fraud to fund a failed real estate project—which has already been foreclosed.

The bulk of Harris’ litigation is centered around the development of the CMNTY Culture Campus, a 460,000 square-foot development planned to be built in Hollywood that never came to fruition. Harris claimed that St. John knew the project was bogus to begin with but continued to take his money on false promises.

“To this day, [Harris does] not know where [his] investment has gone or what is has been used for,” his attorneys wrote in the initial filing. “[St. John] had no intention of [Harris] actually receiving back the full value of his investment, through distributions or otherwise.”

Calvin Harris isn’t the only one pummeling St. John with lawsuits. The longtime financial advisor is facing a separate—but very similar—fraud suit to the tune of $269,000 filed by DJ Eric Prydz, and a whopping $16 million suit filed by lender Parkview Financial.