LOS ANGELES (CN) - Incarcerated private investigator Anthony Pellicano has been implicated in another illegal wiretapping lawsuit. John LaViolette, the attorney for German film distributor Intertainment AG, says the former president of Franchise Entertainment hired Pellicano to listen to LaViolette's phone calls when the two companies were fighting over a film distribution deal.
A federal court later found Franchise guilty of defrauding Intertainment by inflating its distribution budget and imposed a $122 million judgment, according to the lawsuit.
Andrew Stevens, then president of Franchise, allegedly hired the "wiretapper to the stars" when he was considering a countersuit against Intertainment. Prosecutors played a recording of Stevens hiring Pellicano to tap LaViolette's phones during Pellicano's trial, the lawsuit says. The court apparently granted Stevens immunity for testifying.
LaViolette is represented in Superior Court by Christopher Grivakes of Ives Kirwan.
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