A granddaughter of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel — who sued Julien’s Auction House LLC, alleging memorabilia belonging to the onetime Las Vegas mobster was wrongfully sold to a bidder without her permission, despite a warning letter from her attorney warning that the sale was unauthorized — has died, her lawyer states in new court papers.
Cindy Rosen’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit also named as a defendant businessman Jay Bloom and his two companies, Murder Inc. LLC and The Mafia Collection LLC. Rosen said she loaned the photos, clothing, home decor, home movies and handwritten letters and other collectibles to Bloom for his Las Vegas show, “The Mob Experience,” before it went bankrupt in 2011.
Cindy Rosen’s attorney filed a status report on the case on Wednesday with Judge Teresa A. Beaudet stating this his client died Nov. 12. No cause of death was given.
The report further states that Cindy Rosen’s sister and sole surviving heir, Wendy Rosen, will be filing court papers to take over her late sibling’s role as the plaintiff in the lawsuit, which alleges conversion of property, unjust enrichment, unfair competition, intentional misrepresentation, financial elder abuse, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress
The suit filed in February 2023 alleges the defendants’ actions caused Cindy Rosen to lose a large sum of money that defendant had represented she would receive and that she was relying on to help pay her recent medical bills.
Darren Julien, president and CEO of Julien’s, previously issued a statement regarding the lawsuit.
“No other than the items we sold were bought by Cindy from the consignor,” Julien said. “We sent the invoices to her, but she continues to say the items were stolen. It’s not a lawsuit that will go anywhere.”
According to the suit, Rosen repeatedly asked Bloom to return her property after the bankruptcy, but the parties instead agreed in August 2020 to a $60,000 sale of the items.
The consummation of the sale was delayed by Bloom’s alleged poor communications and Rosen, who had significant health issues, obtained an agreement from Bloom in December 2021 to pay her the larger sum of $125,000, the suit states. Cindy Rosen advised Bloom that she wanted the memorabilia back if he could not pay and she later asked for $130,000 so as to include interest, the suit states.
In April 2022, Bloom told Rosen that the items had been sold, but advised the plaintiff that she would still be paid, according to the suit, which further states that the plaintiff learned that Julien’s had obtained the memorabilia and planned to auction it on Bloom’s behalf.
Despite receiving a letter from Rosen’s lawyer warning Julien’s not to sell the items, the auction house did so anyway in August 2022, according to the suit.
“Bloom’s representation of himself as the rightful owner of the memorabilia, and Julien’s auctioning of the memorabilia, despite being on notice that it would be unlawful to do so, were deceitful and this conduct was undertaken with the intention of deceiving the public as to the true ownership of the memorabilia,” the suit states.
Siegel was shot to death at age 41 in a Beverly Hills home in June 1947 and his killing remains unsolved.
–City News Service