Andrew McManus, the Australian concert promoter whose resume includes tours by Whitney Houston, Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, Kiss and Mötley Crüe, has been arrested following a joint sting involving the FBI and local Melbourne police into alleged drug trafficking and money laundering.
The 54-year-old impresario was taken into custody in Melbourne on Sept. 10, along with four other men who have been accused of hatching a plot to import 300 kilograms of cocaine from Mexico to Australia, via the United States. The drugs, however, never reached their destination.
McManus has been under the microscope since police confiscated upwards of A$700,000 ($493,000) from a man at a Sydney hotel in 2011. The live music veteran later claimed that the money was to repay another man who he said had handed over cash as a deposit for a ZZ Top tour.
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He was charged Thursday night local time with perverting the course of justice and making a false statement (both relating to the sum seized), and for his participation in a criminal group.
McManus’ company One World Entertainment has Kiss, Def Leppard and Live treks on the slate, however the status of these shows is unclear following his arrest. A spokesperson for the company didn’t respond to requests for comment at deadline though a legal rep says McManus will “strenuously defend” the charges.
It’s a remarkable fall from grace for a high-profile entrepreneur who was, for a time, one of Australia’s leading promoters known for his big, brash personality and relationships with many of the world’s leading bands. At the same time, he was regarded as a black sheep among the country’s “alpha” live music kings.
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This is not the first scandal involving McManus, a one-time manager of rock band The Divinyls, who were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006. In 2010, he got caught up in a salary cap scandal that threatened to bring down the National Rugby League’s Melbourne Storm franchise. McManus’ company was alleged to have funneled illegal payments to players. He remarked in 2014 that the Australian Taxation Office had fined him A$120,000 ($84,000) per Storm player, a A$2.4 million ($1.6 million) punishment that contributed to the demise of his company, Andrew McManus Presents.
McManus’s health has failed him in recent years (his ailments included burst stomach ulcers and a broken back) and he said in 2014 that he’d developed a regiment that included a “bottle of vodka a day” and led to “pills and painkillers.”