The Loan

Update as of 10-15-2018 -- The case has been dismissed by both parties.  As we have agreed to move forward, the dismissed case will remain confidential.

In early 2011, Alfieri's financial situation was terrible. He was about to lose his home in California. He told me I was the only one who could help him. His home was already on foreclosure. He also had a second loan and a debt to the Home Owners Association.

He had originally invested about 17,500 in the film. He took about half that money out because he really needed the money to pay his bills. On March 3, 2011, he told me he needed to pull his investment out but would leave enough money in the account to cover the LLC taxes and the clearance of the "Arturo Bond" movie. When I did the accounting in the summer of 2011, after the movie was shot, I realized that he had not contributed one penny to the LLC. In fact, he owed about $300 that he used for tanning, gasoline, meals, etc.  I had been the SOLE financier of the LLC and both movies, "Arturo Bond" and "Looking for Clara."

This is the email he sent to me asking me to allow him to get his investment out. At this point, he had taken out more than he had put in.

This $14,000 were going to be a PERSONAL loan. Victor later decided to include the loan in the budget of the movie. My required investment to produce the movie went from $100,000 to $130,000... and later to $150,000. We went over budget when filming in Italy... And of course, he later took what was left of my investment, $17,500 and used it to sue me.

Go to Our Relationship - The Trevino Version - PART 2" for more information on this "loan." This other post contains text messages as well.

Please watch the following video. It contains his testimony during his deposition on August 16, 2012.

Is this the way you would pay back a friend who saves your home and who risks everything to finance your project?

I did love Victor. I loved him unconditionally. He knew I would do anything for him. And I did.

What Victor did seems unforgivable. It is hard not to judge or react to the way he behaved. Sometimes I wonder if he set me up from the beginning or if he simply let his lies take over his existence. 

Disclaimer – As of October 15, 2018, all legal issues have been resolved. This resolution was reached during arbitration. There are no pending issues related to fraud or theft. The resolution was mutually agreeable. There will be no more posts written about this story.