Roland Von Kurnatowski, the former owner of iconic New Orleans music venue Tipitina’s, died on Sunday night after accidentally shooting himself while hunting on his property in Mississippi.
According to a report from NOLA.com, Von Kurnatowski, age 68, “was using a rifle to try to kill wild boar, which had become a problem on his property near Carriere, when he was killed. He was alone when the accident occurred. … Hancock County Coroner Jim Faulk said on Monday that Von Kurnatowski’s death remained ‘under thorough investigation’ but declined to discuss the case further.”
Von Kurnatowski’s name had frequently appeared in headlines over the last year, though not always in a positive light. Late last year, when he still owned Tipitina’s, reports began to emerge that Tipitina’s could be sold amid Roland’s ongoing financial missteps and legal issues.
According to a November 2018 report by the New Orleans Advocate, “Two recent lawsuits filed against Roland Von Kurnatowski, an owner of Tipitina’s and the Orpheum Theater, accuse the New Orleans businessman of bilking investors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in what one of the suits describes as a ‘Ponzi scheme.’”
In addition to the lawsuits, the report noted that multiple high-profile acts who played at Tipitina’s and the Orpheum Theater, also owned by Von Kurnatowski at the time (he had since sold his stake), had their performance checks bounce around that time—even after their shows sold out.
Soon after, local funk band Galactic, whose members had frequented Tipitina’s as both patrons and performers for decades, announced that they had purchased the club from Von Kurnatowski, though he retained control of the Tipitina’s Foundation.
Even in the wake of the sale of Tipitina’s, Von Kurnatowski had been facing a number of other legal disputes with members of his family over various real estate transactions that had gone south. These various circumstances triggered an FBI investigation into Von Kurnatowski and his business practices, which include a fund called Bond Fund One. While investors in Bond Fund One were sold on buying in by Von Kurnatowski’s formerly glowing reputation in New Orleans and the promise that the funds would be used to invest in relatively safe U.S. Treasury bills, the investments didn’t play out as expected.
According to WWL-TV, “Investors, several of them elderly, allege in a series of lawsuits that Von Kurnatowski bilked them out of millions of dollars by convincing them they were investing in safe, easily cashed Treasuries, and never telling them he had used their money to finance numerous real estate ventures.” The fund lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and investors were barred from cashing out their stakes. Some even accused him of operating a Ponzi scheme.
Von Kurnatowski denied duping his investors in Bond Fund One, arguing to WWL-TV that negative media coverage and a contentious falling-out with his former partner in the Orpheum were the cause of his inability to pay back investors.
The bond fund terminated automatically when Von Kurnatowski died on Sunday, though the plaintiffs will reportedly change their suits to go after his estate.
This story is still developing.