Viceroy alleges fraud, extortion in new cross claim against Dubai's Five Holdings

Viceroy Hotel Group has filed court papers in Los Angeles against Dubai businessman Kabir Mulchandani’s Five Holdings, reports sister publication Arabian Business. 

In the court papers, LA-based Viceroy alleges fraud, extortion, conversion and unfair business practices against Five Holdings and affiliated companies. This is the latest move in an ongoing dispute between the two companies over the management of a luxury Palm Jumeirah hotel that began earlier this year.

This is the latest in a series of court cases filed. Five Holdings launched a legal case against Viceroy Hotels in Los Angeles in September 2017 after estimates that it may have lost more than US $100 million in contracts because of 'alleged' interference, according to a Bloomberg report.

Mulchandani, the chief executive of Five Holdings, filed a lawsuit against Viceroy Hotel Group in Los Angeles on September 7, 2017. The lawsuit cites a consultant report dated August 2017 to justify the ouster of Viceroy as the manager of the Viceroy Palm Jumeirah Hotel two months earlier. 

Viceroy’s cross-complaint in October details Mulchandani’s decision to leverage Viceroy’s management expertise in opening the hotel, which he followed by evicting Viceroy from its role as exclusive hotel manager, Viceroy’s statement said.

The lawsuit further alleges that Five and its affiliates “created a false record of accounting-related accusations in an attempt to both justify Viceroy's eviction after the fact and extort a settlement”.

Viceroy claims that, to date, Mulchandani and the entities he controls “have ignored the court order”. According to the website of Los Angeles Superior Court, a hearing in this case has been scheduled for January 22, 2018.

Five Holdings has been contacted for comment.