In late 2010, singer/producer Ryan Leslie’s laptop was stolen while at a show overseas. As with many musicians, R. Les had a LOT of unreleased content on there, and went into panic mode to have it returned. He quickly offered up a monetary reward for its safe recovery, and soon upped the ante to $1 million when no one took the bait. Alas, 52-year-old Armin Augstein recovered the goods and promptly got Ryan his laptop back, but almost two years later, Ryan has failed to live up to his end of the bargain. Armin has since filed a lawsuit against him for the promised $1 million…plus interest…in NYC. More below.
Yesterday, a jury made a decision in the case, and have determined that Ryan better pony up the money. However, Ryan argues that the precious material he’d wanted the laptop back for were no longer available upon receiving his computer back, so the reward he’d offered became void. He is considering an appeal.
