Earlier this week, it was revealed that Journey's Neal Schon had taken legal action against bandmate Jonathan Cain, alleging that he had repeatedly been restricted access to the band's financial records and a credit card that had been set up by Cain for Journey business usage. Cain has now responded to the suit, issuing a statement that claims that Schon's "reckless spending" is what is really at the heart of the legal action.
Per TMZ, Cain just filed legal documents of his own in response to the suit initially filed by Schon last month. Now, while speaking on the matter, Cain has alleged that the cause of the rift comes down to Schon's spending issues.
"This is a matter that should have been resolved privately, but I am forced to publicly respond now to Neal's malicious lies and personal attacks on my family and I in an effort to garner public support for his ill-conceived lawsuit — a lawsuit that has absolutely no merit," says Cain.
He adds, "Neal has always had access to the credit card statements; what he lacks — and what he is really seeking — is the ability to increase his spending limits."
Cain continued, "Since Neal decided to publicize what is going on, I can tell you we will present the evidence to the court that shows that Neal has been under tremendous financial pressure as a result of his excessive spending and extravagant lifestyle, which led to him running up enormous personal charges on the band's credit card account. When efforts were made to limit his use of the card to legitimate band expenses, Neal unfortunately decided to attack me rather than trying to get his reckless spending under control."
The keyboardist says he is "saddened by the situation," concluding, "But since Neal filed a lawsuit, I suspect he will not be able to ignore the court like he has ignored the countless financial advisors and accountants he has fired over the past several years who have tried in vain to help him."
In Schon's initial court filing, the guitarist stated that he hasn't been granted access to financial records from Nomota, the company that he and Cain started that oversees Journey's business dealings, that allow him to know how much money he is owed. He also alleged that Cain set up a band American Express card without telling him and that "millions of Journey funds have flowed through it." Schon sought access to Nomota's books and records, requesting "unfettered access."
In a separate statement, Cain's attorney Alan Gutman of Gutman Law commented, "The evidence will establish that Schon's financial crisis has nothing to do with his professed 'unfettered access to Nomota's records.' Our investigation has established that Schon's personal financial problems resulted solely from his reckless spending, including what preliminarily appears to be charging more than $1 million of improper personal expenses on the band's corporate Nomota AMEX card."
"Schon's complaint is the classic example of desperate people doing desperate things. It's very unfortunate that Neal — and Neal alone — has created such difficulties for himself and his family through his profligate spending," the statement concluded.
The case is set for a preliminary hearing on March 3, 2023.
