CHARLOTTE — Restaurateur Patrick Whalen is tangled in a legal battle with investors over use of funding at Church and Union Charleston.
WP Church LLC — affiliated with Charlotte developer White Point Partners — has filed a complaint in North Carolina Business Court. It claims Whalen “robbed” Church and Union Charleston — or CU Charleston — and its investors, stealing at least $5 million in assets over the past five years. Court documents allege Whalen misappropriated funds for the restaurant and surreptitiously spent the money on his other restaurant projects.
Charlotte-based 5th Street Group opened the Charleston restaurant in 2015.
Whalen told the Charlotte Business Journal in an interview that WP Church’s filing “is disingenuous to say the least.” He described the lawsuit as a shakedown, with WP Church looking for an easy cash payout.
“It’s not going to work with the 5th Street Group. We’re not going to back down,” Whalen says. “At this point, it’s provably false.”
Whalen’s attorney has filed a third-party complaint and cross claims on his behalf, as well as a motion to dismiss.
Read more here.
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