I know of Garth Dabrinsky through my experiences working for Ticketmaster while in University. Garth was responsible for bringing “Phantom of the Opera” to Toronto, and while I never met him, he was notorious among the people who knew him as being the classic overbearing (insert rude curse word here) producer. Think Tom Cruise in “Tropic Thunder.” He earned the nickname “Darth,” although it was only whispered in close company.

I was not surprised to recently read that Dabrinsky and his Live Entertainment co-founder were recently found guilty of fraud for improperly stating company earnings for a five-year period from 1993-1998.  People who are usually unpleasant to deal with in business usually have some secret that isn’t above board, but only rarely do these activities get out.

So a small cheer for this event on behalf of all my old colleagues who were forced to deal with this nasty piece of work.

Update: The Globe and Mail’s Margaret Wente does a more detailed writeup here.