Great Clips Sues Subcontractor, Alleges $1 Million was Stolen
Great Clips, a Bloomington, Minnesota based company, has filed a lawsuit against Manrique Group, a subcontractor it allegedly hired to market Great Clips and its services at sporting events around the country. According to Great Clips’ complaint, Great Clips retained Manrique Group to secure scoreboard and court-side signage at sports games and similar events around the country. Additionally, Great Clips alleges that it would prepay Manrique Group for these events, and Manrique Group was supposed to use those funds for the events. Instead, Manrique Group allegedly pocketed a portion of the funds. The suit was filed in Hennepin County District Court in November.
Manrique Group has not responded to the complaint; however, its attorney has denied the allegations set out in the compliant. Manrique Group plans to respond to the complaint in January, according to its attorney. Manrique Group is no longer in business, but the complaint alleges that Manrique Group’s owner has substantial assets in Minnesota.
According to the complaint, the companies worked together over the past two decades, but issues only arose throughout the past couple of years. Great Clips alleges that over the past few years Manrique Group had been negotiating lower fees with the sports teams than Great Clips believed it was paying, and then Manrique Group kept the difference. The alleged fraud came to light when a number of sports teams relayed to Great Clips that they had not been paid, despite the fact that Great Clips had paid Manrique Group for those events, according to the complaint.