Photo above: John Cristadoro at his swearing-in ceremony for the Cobb County Board of Education

By Rebecca Gaunt

John Cristadoro, vice chair of the Cobb County Board of Education, and his company, Alliance Activation, have been named in a lawsuit alleging violations of civil RICO, conspiracy, theft, fraud, breach of fiduciary duties, and other malfeasance with regard to $250,000 that the plaintiff, Sagicor Life Insurance Company, said was misappropriated.

The lawsuit, filed in March 2024, also named John Doe as a defendant. Doe is described in court documents as an Alliance employee who participated in the named actions, but whose identity is unknown.

Judge Wesley B. Tailor of the Fulton County State Court ruled Monday that he would not grant Cristadoro’s request to seal any of the consent judgment from public view.

Cristadoro did not attend the hearing, but was represented by attorney Caitlyn Powers.

According to the lawsuit, filed by Sagicor’s attorney Jefferson Starr, Alliance was hired to secure an advertising contract with Sunburst Entertainment Group LLC, an affiliate of Rays Baseball Club LLC and Rowdies Soccer LLC.

Sagicor alleges that it wired $250,000 in five equal installments in 2023, but that money was never passed on to Sunburst. Sagicor was unaware of this until it received a default notice from Sunburst. Sagicor further alleges that the money instead went to the company and personal use.

Read the lawsuit by following this link.

Tailor heard a motion filed by residents Stacey Owens, Maggie Dougherty, Jennifer Simon, and Heather Tolley-Bauer, constituents in Cristadoro’s Post 5, asking the judge not to grant his request to seal based on the fact that he is an elected official who shares responsibility for the school district’s $1.8 billion budget. Read the motion by following this link.

They were represented by attorney Zack Greenamyren of Mitchell Shapiro Greenamyre & Funt LLP.

Cristadoro’s attorney argued against the motion due to its late submission and said it was an invasion of Cristadoro’s privacy. She also argued that the issue occurred “many years ago” outside of Cobb County.

Tailor said he was not inclined to grant the motion, but he also said he does not typically seal judgments in such cases.

From the motion: 

In brief, Sagicore entrusted Cristadoro with $250,000.00 paid in five equal installments over four months. After retaining a 10% agency commission, Cristadoro had a fiduciary duty to forward the funds to Sunburst Entertainment Group, LLC. Instead, Cristadoro used his client’s money to pay off Alliance’s creditors and, it would appear, Cristadoro’s personal expenses. This was not a one-time event. Alliance’s bank statements show that he paid the same credit card company multiple times in the same month… In short, it would appear to be undisputed that Cristadoro, a fiduciary over his client’s funds, misappropriated a significant amount of money from his client.

“This case raises important questions about transparency, accountability, and the public’s right to access court records involving elected officials who hold positions of public trust,” said Tolley-Bauer.

Tolley-Bauer is a co-founder of the financial watchdog group Watching the Funds, which has questioned district spending on several occasions. Owens, Dougherty, and Simon are not affiliated with the group.

Cristadoro’s attorney framed Tolley-Bauer’s involvement in the motion as an attempt at political gain because Cristadoro’s opponent in the 2024 election, Laura Judge, became involved with Watching the Funds six months after it was formed.

“I’m not a political opponent…I have never run for office,” Tolley-Bauer said when questioned by Powers.

After the hearing, Tolley-Bauer said, “This is a win for transparency and a win for Cobb County taxpayers. We have a right to know if our elected officials are spending millions and millions of our tax dollars; we need to know if they are worthy of the trust that they place in them.”

Since all parties agreed to the redaction as part of the consent judgment, the judge set Dec. 1 as the date for the matter to go to trial unless the parties come to a new agreement.

Cristadoro has not responded to the Courier’s request for comment.