London club FOLD allowed to reopen by Newham Council during fraud investigation
- PublishedFri, Nov 15, 2019, 13:26
- Words
- Share
- The suspension of the club's license was lifted in a hearing at Newham Town Hall this morning.
- FOLD will reopen tonight. After being forced to close when its operating license was suspended on Monday, the Canning Town venue has been granted permission to open in an expedited hearing with Newham Council at Newham Town Hall on Friday morning. The lifted suspension comes with conditions regarding the two people, Lasha Zhorzholiani (Gillian House license holder and sole director of Artsintheeast Ltd.) and a person currently unnamed in public documents, who Metropolitan police have arrested "on suspicion of conspiracy to commit money laundering." (Neither person has been charged and both have been released from police custody—Zhorzholiani on bail and the unnamed person without.) The council ruled that they "shall be excluded from attending the premises at all times and excluded from being involved in day to day management and operational duties of the premises at all times" while the fraud investigation is ongoing. There will be a full license review hearing at a future date pending the police and National Crime Agency investigation. Shortly after the hearing, FOLD posted a statement on Instagram. "FOLD is proud to confirm that the licensing suspension has been lifted, with a full licensing hearing to be scheduled in the coming weeks," the team wrote. "FOLD are confident that the police will conclude that FOLD have not acted improperly, failing which FOLD will fight until the truth is revealed." The police document included in the initial license suspension paperwork also alleges that "fraudulent funds" were involved in the purchase of "approximately £200,000 worth of" "high-value DJ equipment" as a focus of the investigation. In a statement provided to RA on Tuesday, FOLD "denie[d] all allegations of impropriety including the specific allegations of fraud against FOLD itself and any of its employees." (Find the full statement here.) This weekend's Cartulis Day event, which runs for 31 hours from 11 PM tonight, will go ahead as planned. Read FOLD's full statement from today.
- Fri, Nov 15, 2019
Cartulis Day // 10-Year Anniversary Weekend
Radioactive Man, DJ Koolt, Binh, Laurine, Cecilio, Unai Trotti, Raphael Carrau, Vera, Evan Baggs, Z@p, Junki Inoue, Tom Cottrell