A former business manager for the producer of “Happy Days” will be granted relief from a nearly $15 million default judgment obtained against him by his former client if he first pays more than $40,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs, a judge ruled.
The $14.9 million judgment in favor of William S. Bickley and against Kenneth Cleveland and his company, Recome Financial Inc., was signed Feb. 27 by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Fahey. The underlying damages were $6 million, but the amount was increased when interest was added.
However, Cleveland later moved to have the default action nullified. His attorneys maintained he did not have notice of a hearing last September when Fahey started the default process by striking Cleveland’s answer to Bickley’s complain as well as the defendant’s countersuit.
In an order issued Thursday, Fahey said the default judgment will be set aside if by July 31 Cleveland pays $41,800 to Bickley’s attorney, Roger Golden, for his work in preparing all motions related to the default. Cleveland also must show proof that Recome Financial is a viable company, the judge said.
Cleveland worked as Bickley’s business manager for more than two decades and the two had grown up together in Texas and been friends for nearly 50 years, according to Golden’s court papers.
“In that capacity, Cleveland controlled plaintiffs’ bank accounts from which he stole millions of dollars, all the while assuring William that his financial affairs were in order and he was economically set for life,” Golden stated in his court papers.
Cleveland’s certification as a CPA was suspended in 2009 and his license as an investment adviser was revoked in 2005, but Bickley was not aware of those developments until later, Golden’s court papers state.
Bickley also was involved in the development and production of such shows as “The Love Boat,” “Family Matters,” “Step by Step” and “Perfect Strangers.”
—City News Service