Orlando's Club Paris nightclub
founder posts bail in probation violation over rape charge
Testimony from a guard and a cab driver cast doubt on a rape allegation, 'Fred' Khalilian's lawyer says.
Posted November 20, 2007
Two surprise witnesses helped
the founder of Orlando's Club Paris persuade a judge Monday to let him
post $10,000 for bail on a charge of violating probation with his recent arrest on rape charges.
Fereidoun "Fred" Khalilian, 35, spent the weekend in jail after
he was re-arrested Friday because of accusations that he raped a former
employee of his new Church Street Station venture, Dolce Nightclub, violating
his probation for beating a girlfriend two years ago.
Dolce Nightclub opened in September after Khalilian closed Club Paris
last summer in a dispute with heiress Paris Hilton.
Khalilian is charged with rape and false imprisonment, crimes alleged
to have taken place at his condominium overlooking Lake Eola early Nov. 9.
However, testimony by a security guard on duty that night at the Waverly
on Lake Eola Condominiums and a taxi driver who drove the woman home
raised doubts about her credibility, according to Khalilian's lawyer, Mark NeJame.
Both men said the woman appeared happy and content after spending 70 minutes
in the nightclub owner's home. And a text message she sent afterward to
Khalilian's cell phone asked him to send her some clothing and thanked
him, NeJame said.
Khalilian was required while on bail to wear a GPS tracking device, abstain
from drinking alcohol, and stay out of his nightclub between 10 p.m. and
8 a.m., NeJame said.
Khalilian posted $6,000 for bail after his initial arrest last week on rape charges.
Copyright © 2007,
Orlando Sentinel
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