By Robert J. Hansen
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.— Vivera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced last month that the litigation involving former commissioner for the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension, Pedram Salimpour, has been dismissed, leaving Salimpour with nothing by way of settlement.
In the 2020 lawsuit filed by Salimpour and his now-disbarred attorney, Thomas Girardi, Salimpour alleged he was an employee of Vivera, owed over $7.5 million in salary, and entitled to five percent ownership in the company.
“I am disgusted that Pedram tried to defraud Vivera shareholders and employees to gain something he never earned,” said Paul Edalat, Chairman, Founder, and CEO of Vivera said in the statement.
Edalat added, “What came to light during this experience is that we had other advisors, some actively doing business with Pedram, working against the best interests of Vivera as well. Several former Vivera advisors simultaneously worked with both Pedram and Vivera, even amid the false nature of his statements.”
The lawsuit was filed just weeks before the news of Girardi’s behavior came to light in a federal fraud indictment.
Salimpour, who has never been an employee of Vivera, filed it intending to disrupt Vivera’s business and was aided by Girardi, according to Vivera.
Girardi was disbarred from practicing law in California and indicted in an Illinois court for stealing $18 million from his clients who were victims of an airline crash.
The Vanguard recently reported that the California State Bar is now being sued in a class action lawsuit by more victims of Girardi.
Girardi, Salimpour’s former attorney and a long-time financial supporter of Villaraigosa, still faces federal fraud crime charges.
Vivera is still pursuing its case against Girardi personally and is additionally looking into any bad acts committed by former advisors of the company.
A spokesperson for Vivera, an innovative, science-driven biopharma and MedTech company located in Southern California, said it is pursuing Girardi because he has defaulted in the settlement lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleged Salimpour acted as CEO of Vivera between 2017 and 2018, among other blatantly false statements designed to defame Vivera under the protection of so-called “litigation privilege,” said the company.
After being notified by the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL), the police union representing the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Vivera said it discovered Salimpour failed to disclose any such interest in Vivera in the legally mandated Form 700 disclosures required by all those serving in public office or adjacent positions.
“Pedram had failed to disclose Vivera in his mandatory filings (and) tipped the scales of justice the right way. We were later contacted by multiple local and federal agencies about Pedram, which was truly shocking,” Edalat said.
Until 2022, Salimpour served as a commissioner for the multi-billion-dollar Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension and was required to disclose all business interests.
Reporting by the Los Angeles Daily News revealed Salimpour had acted to obtain a City of Los Angeles COVID-19 contract for his own company, PPS Health Bluestone Safe, requiring city employees to pay for testing, and outsourcing the testing to an out-of-state third-party laboratory.
“I will always defend Vivera, its shareholders, and its employees from outside attacks, including fraudulent lawsuits designed to hurt our hardworking team. Our company is on a mission to make a real impact on patient lives, and we will not be distracted. It’s a shame that lawyers like Girardi can publish lies and get away with it,” Edalat said.
