DJ Calvin Harris Accuses His Financial Advisor of Stealing $22.5 Million To Fund ‘Boondoggle’ Real Estate Scheme: ‘A Complete Fraud’

Musician Calvin Harris has accused his longtime financial advisor of stealing $22.5 million in a bid to fund a "boondoggle" real estate scheme that was touted as a creative space for artists in Los Angeles.

In court documents filed at the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, on Sept. 12, Harris—whose real name is Adam Wiles—levies a series of claims against Thomas St. John, who served as his financial advisor for 13 years before they seemingly ended their professional relationship in April 2025.

According to an arbitration demand filed by Harris' attorneys, the musician alleges that St. John, who is referred to in filings as "TSJ," and a group of co-conspirators "breached [his] trust" by convincing him to funnel millions into the project—which he claims was merely an attempt to "simply steal" his money.

Per Billboard and People, Harris' legal team notes in the filing that their client is required to work with professionals like St. John in order to ensure that "his earnings are protected, his investments are smart, and his family and future are secure."

"However, instead of acting in Mr. Wiles’s best interests, TSJ and the other respondents completely and absolutely breached that trust," the document states.

St. John has vehemently denied "any wrongdoing" in a statement provided by his lawyer.

Harris, 41, who has an estimated net worth of $300 million, alleges that St. John began working on the project—which is described in the filing as a 460,000-square-foot development known as CMNTY Culture Campus—in 2021, after buying a large parcel of land in Hollywood.

The space was meant to be targeted at "musicians, recording engineers, entertainers, and creatives, and was to include recording studios, artists’ lounges, and office space," the filing continues.

However, Harris claims that St. John approached him in 2023 to say that the project had run out of funds and to ask for his help in keeping it alive.

The DJ—who is originally from Scotland—agreed to inject $22.5 million of cash into the development, $10 million of which he says was given as a loan that has never been paid back, while the other $12.5 million was meant to be an equity stake in the project.

Yet the musician says he was led astray by St. John, claiming that his advisor "did not reveal his true intentions" with regard to his money, that he "provided no context or information whatsoever," and instead just sent over documents for his client to sign—which Harris says were "materially misleading."

After Harris handed over his investment, his lawyers claim that St. John funneled $11.7 million of the money into an LLC controlled solely by St. John.

Harris' lawyers say that the loan portion of the investment was meant to be paid back by Jan. 31, 2025, but no money has been returned—nor has the interest been paid.

They add that their client has repeatedly asked for additional information about the progress of the project and his investment, but that details have been incredibly limited.

"To this day, Claimants [Harris] do not know where Claimants’ investment has gone or what it has been used form," the court filing states, adding that the project "has been, at best, a complete boondoggle, and, at worst, a complete fraud."

"Mr. Wiles has not received a single penny in return for that investment, and, indeed, respondents have not even started developing or building the project," the filing continues. "In fact, shortly after Mr. Wiles purportedly made this $12.5 million investment, TSJ … distributed over $11 million dollars to himself."

Harris' lawyers claim that St. John and his so-called co-conspirators have since shifted their focus away from the project being an artists' space and are instead planning a residential real estate development.

In a statement shared with Billboard, Sasha Frid, an attorney for St. John, vehemently denied any wrongdoing on the part of his client, insisting that Harris had chosen to pursue legal action because he was "unhappy with the pace of the project."

Frid added that the development is still very much in progress, alleging that it is projected to have a "$900+ million valuation when completed."

"Unhappy with the pace of the project, he chose to pursue private arbitration to assert his discontent," Frid said.

"It’s no secret that due to interest rates and other market factors real estate projects are taking longer to build. But the development is very much viable and expected to have a $900+ million valuation when completed."

Harris and St. John have already agreed to a temporary injunction that freezes certain assets while arbitration is ongoing.

The filing comes just over a month after Harris welcomed his first child with wife Vick Hope, whom he wed in 2023.

Together, the couple own several properties across the globe—however, they are said to be planning on settling down in a custom-built mansion in the Cotswolds, the same area where Ellen DeGeneres is now living with her wife, Portia de Rossi.

A worker who was taking part in the build told the Daily Mail in February that Harris had spared no expense on the home, noting that the property would provide complete privacy for the DJ and his family thanks to its remote location in the countryside.

"There’s no expense spared and it’s going to be amazing," the worker said. "The best thing is he won’t have a neighbour in sight when he moves in, just a decent pub down the road."