Gospel Musician Whacked With RICO Lawsuit

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Gospel music singer-producer Tim Miner and his wife "prey on religious people who want to break into the entertainment industry," a young singer-songwriter claims in court.

Christine McCauley and her daughter Amanda McCauley claim Miner told Amanda he had been "called by God" to help her - for $50,000 - but that he never delivered, and that she's not the only one.

The McCauleys sued Miner and his wife Hope Miner, Tim Miner Music, and Dragon's Heir LLC dba Love Jones Music Publishing on June 30 in Superior Court, alleging RICO fraud and seven other charges.

They claim, among other things, that Miner claimed a connection with (nonparty) Justin Bieber to pry $50,000 out of them.

Amanda claims in the lawsuit that the Miners invited her to California after seeing her on YouTube. She says Tim Miner told her during a meeting at his home that he was "called by God" to help launch her music career and that he would come out of retirement to make it happen.

The McCauleys say the Miners told them that "God has called them to work with plaintiffs and made multiple references to a spiritual, divine connection bringing them together." But in fact, the mother and daughter claim, the Miners "prey on religious people who want to break into the entertainment industry."

They say the Miners told Amanda they would get her a record deal if she handed over $50,000 to record a six-song demo.

But Tim Miner never finished the master recordings, and he defrauded six other musicians in a similar way, according to the complaint.

The McCauleys claim the Miners told Amanda that R&B singer Brian McKnight would sing a duet with her on a song called "Closer," and that their connections with Justin Bieber, Paula Abdul, the Wayans Brothers and Rod Stewart would help make her a star.

Miner states on his website, checked Friday, that he wrote and produced the first track on Bieber's 2011 Christmas album, "Under the Mistletoe."

The McCauleys say the Miners threatened to drop Amanda if she went back to Michigan, so they rented an apartment in Simi Valley for eight months, until April 2014, and spent $51,500 on living expenses.

In the fall of 2013, the McCauleys say, upon becoming "suspicious" that the Miners could not deliver what they had promised, they discovered bankruptcy ?lings and complaints on a Ripoff Report website.

They say they found that Miner had entered into similar contracts with others, and "charged different burgeoning artists different rates depending on the artist's respective wealth."

After Christine McCauley spoke to other musicians' parents, she says, Miner made "threatening statements" and warned her not to communicate with them.

Miner neither finished Amanda McCauley's recordings nor secured rights to the music, "which makes the partially completed songs worthless," the lawsuit states.

"Defendants otherwise negligently performed their duties as producers and/or managers in connection with A. McCauley's entertainment industry career and failed to perform their duties in a competent manner," it states.

The McCauleys seek $500,000 in damages under the RICO statute and $126,500 in damages for each of the other seven causes of action, which include breach of contract, fraud, promissory fraud, negligent misrepresentation and unfair business practices.

They are represented by Steven Lower.

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