The widow of Motor Jam Music co-founder Steve Salem is suing his partner for allegedly withholding royalties.
Rose Salem-Tilford filed a lawsuit on June 8 in Westchester Supreme Court accusing David K. Eng of breach of fiduciary duty.
“This action seeks to redress the abject betrayal, unmitigated deceit and outrageous avarice perpetrated by defendant David Eng,” the complaint states.
Eng did not respond to an email asking for his side of the story.
Salem-Tilford is CEO of 360 Business Coach in Scarsdale.
Eng has worked as a musician, songwriter, producer, mixing engineer and label owner since the 1970s, according to his personal website profile. His Bayside Sound Recording Studios produced recordings for hip-hop, rhythm and blues, and rock musicians such as Sweet Tee, La Toya Jackson, Chaka Khan, Kiss and Marshall Crenshaw.
He claims he has sold more than 20 million records worldwide.
In 1988, he partnered with Steve Salem of New Rochelle to form Salem and Eng Enterprises Ltd. operating as Motor Jam Music and Motor Jam Records.
In 1993, they produced the single “Informer,” and the album “12 Inches of Snow” by Canadian pop-reggae rapper Snow, and sold more than 5 million records.
Salem died in 2002, at age 42, of non-Hodgkin”™s lymphoma. He bequeathed his 50% interest in the studio to his wife.
Salem-Tilford claims that Eng, who dedicated his personal website to Salem, his “best friend,” has repeatedly acknowledged that the studio would continue to provide financially for her and her children.
For years, according to the lawsuit, Eng kept his promise, distributing royalty payments and recognizing Salem-Tilford”™s share of profits and losses on tax returns.
But over time, she claims, payments diminished. Last year, after Salem and Eng Enterprises released “Con Calma,” a successful single by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, she began investigating.
She claims that Warner Music Group verified that Motor Jam Music has received royalty payments uninterrupted for years, when she received nothing.
“Eng has reneged on his promise, betrayed his fiduciary duties as a fellow shareholder and has usurped untold sums of money,” the complaint states.
Salem-Tilford accuses Eng of breaches of contract and fiduciary duty, conversion, unjust enrichment and fraud. She is demanding a formal accounting of the studio”™s finances.
She is represented by White Plains attorneys Jeffrey I. Carton and Joseph M. Licare.
