A court filing by the common law wife of the superstar's manager narrates how Rimas Entertainment became a juggernaut and the pivotal role played by a former minister of Hugo Chávez's government.

The recording, production, representation, management and digital rights operation that led supermarket bag boy Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio to become the number one recording artist in the world under the moniker "Bad Bunny" flowed from a $2 million investment that a former Venezuelan army captain put in the hands or entrepreneur Noah Assad Byrne.

Starting with Martínez Ocasio, but encompassing other artists, those $2 million made available to the businessman in 2014, when he was 24 years old, have turned Rimas Entertainment LLC into an operation with an estimated value of $1,000 million that branches out through several corporate entities and other commercial endeavors.

These are some of the statements of fact under the advisement of the San Juan Court of First Instance put forth in a community property division lawsuit last March by Assad Byrne's former common law wife, and mother of his two daughters, Gretchen Marie Hernández Rivera. The woman recounts their life as a couple since they met back in 2011, in the parking lot of a Burger King restaurant in San Juan. They were both around 20 years old back then and were together until December 2021 when, 90 days before they were to formalize their relationship in a wedding ceremony, preparations were called off because the man told her he was in another relationship and left the home.

Hernández Rivera's request to the court is that she has a right to half of Assad Byrne's assets, including real property, investments and stock ownership in his many commercial operations, including Rimas. The argument made by her lawyers, Anibelle Sloan Altieri and Guillermo de Guzmán Vendrell, is that all these properties came to be while they were in a common law marriage and that she contributed directly to the success of the companies. If the court finds this to be the case, she would have a right to claim 50% of his property, just as if they had been formally married without a prenuptial agreement. But if the court disagrees, then evidence would have to be presented as to the actual work she performed and the court might decree a property division different than 50-50. In a separate, confidential, proceeding, she's also asking for custody of the couple's two minor daughters.

Hernández Rivera gives a dizzying account of how the wealth accumulated over the 10 years the couple spent together and during which she was "the fundamental driving force and consultant in the couple's decision-making, both in their personal life and in business." Bank accounts "swelled rapidly, from $200,000 to $500,000, to a million, two million and so on, going on an upward spiral that wouldn't stop." The businesses, in which she claims she was known by employees as "The Boss" for her day to day involvement and responsibilities, diversified beyond music to include real estate, restaurants and medical cannabis dispensaries, which are unidentified in the documents.

Assad Byrne has not yet answered the allegations, but the lawsuit indicates that he told the plaintiff out of court that he doesn't have to share any of his businesses with her. His lawyer, Pedro Ortiz Álvarez , who is a well known fundraiser and political operator for the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), has asked Judge Elisa A. Fumero Pérez to dismiss the case on grounds that the island's new Civil Code does not allow recognition of property partnerships from common law marriages. Hernández Rivera's lawyers have disputed this interpretation and the judge has not decided on the argument yet.

"In 2014, (Assad Byrne) met a Venezuelan named Rafael Ricardo Jiménez Dan, a former deputy minister in the government of Hugo Chávez, who at that time had just left Venezuela to reside in Weston, Florida. Co-defendant Jiménez Dan lent him and/or invested money (to Assad Byrne) to open a recording studio. That same year, (Hernández Rivera and Assad Byrne) made one of their dreams come true when Rimas Entertainment, LLC was incorporated, with additional money contributed and/or or lent by Venezuelan Jiménez Dan ($2,000,000), who also paid (Assad Byrne's) personal debts," says the lawsuit, that includes Jiménez Dan as co-defendant.

Prior to this lawsuit, in the stories that have been published about the meteoric rise of Assad Byrne, Martínez Ocasio and Rimas, there was no mention about Jiménez Dan.

The document explains that before this influx of capital, the woman "covered a large part of the expenses" of the home with her work in a store in Plaza Las Américas, while Assad Byrne made initial incursions in the urban music industry, such as producing parties and events, some with reggaeton singer Ozuna Romero del Valle, who goes by the name "Ozuna". Assad Byrne also got paid "to bring people to these events."

"(Jiménez Dan) bought a house in Ocean Park for Rimas Entertainment to be able to operate from there. (Hernández Rivera) began working in those offices, collaborating in all areas, including managing the company's personnel. Then they moved Rimas Entertainment's operations to Piloto 151 in Santurce, in which she participated again. Later, the offices were relocated to Miramar (San Juan), a place that (Hernández Rivera) designed, decorated and organized," the filing adds.

Jiménez Dan is a graduate of the Venezuelan Army Military Academy, currently retired with a captain position, who was also Deputy Minister of Legal Security in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Justice between 2006 and 2013, during the presidency of the late Venezuelan President, Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias.

In the only appearance he has made in the case, Jiménez Dan argues he should not be included as co-defendant because if the court rules that Hernández Rivera has some right over Assad Byrne's participation in Rimas, the matter can be resolved without him being sued as a partner. "Mr. Jiménez Dan has a majority stake in Rimas," states the document submitted by his lawyers, without confirming if his majority position is 51%, as the lawsuit claims. The other 49% would be held by Assad Byrne, and it is over that percentage that his former common law wife claims a right.

Jiménez Dan appeared in the case represented by DLA Piper LLC, the San Juan branch of the prominent legal and lobbying international firm. They also represent LUMA Energy, the private operators of the Puerto Rico electrical grid and, along with Governor Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia, the targets of Bad Bunny's criticism during the first night of his Puerto Rico concerts last week, which were broadcast by Telemundo. "Fuck LUMA!," said the singer after complaining about the unreliability of electric power in the island, a major source of everyday headache to Puerto Ricans that has only gotten worse after hurricanes Irma and Maria struck in 2017. LUMA replied on Friday that "Puerto Rico, including Bad Bunny, deserves better" and that they are committed to addressing the grid's historical failings. The singer made social commentaries about the government and living conditions in the island that where well-received by the audience during his other two concerts last week.

Regarding how Martínez Ocasio was discovered, and her involvement, the plaintiff says that in 2017 Assad Byrne "had contact for the first time with a young man who was a 'bagger' in a supermarket and wanted to be a singer, so he uploaded songs to the Suncloud platform where (the entrepreneur) heard them."

"The young man had a very peculiar way of dressing and called himself Bad Bunny. (Assad Byrne) listened to him and liked him, he went to see him at a show in a town on the island, then two days later he asked the plaintiff to listen to him, she told him that she liked him too and that he should go meet him. So (Assad Byrne) met this young singer and, after consulting with the plaintiff, decided to sign him as his representative and manager through co-defendant Rimas Entertainment. His name is Benito Martínez. Thus began the relationship of Rimas Entertainment and the parties to this case with Benito Martínez, better known as Bad Bunny," according to the filing.

"The relationship between Benito Martínez and Rimas Entertainment was recently reaffirmed, while the plaintiff and (Assad Byrne) still maintained their relationship, through a five year extension of his 360 exclusive contract covering representation, management, distribution, record label and shows, which is considered an asset of Rimas Entertainment and (which) the parties have conservatively valued at about $500,000,000."

To those $500 million, the lawsuit adds another $500 million of market value for the rest of the company's artist roster, namely, Tommy Torres, Corina Smith, Karol G, Eladio Carrión, Arcángel, Mora, Mickey Wooz, Amennazi, Jowell & Randy, Lyanno, Marconi Impara, Rafa Pabón, Subelo NEO, Urba and Rome, among others. The claim also adds another $15 million in assets and value that the couple manages through other corporate entities, primarily in the real estate industry, a business conducted under the real estate brokerage license of Assad Byrne's mother. If the lawsuit proceeds, the official sum of Assad Byrne's assets and securities will be the result of evidence presented to the court and expert's valuations.

According to the lawsuit, the couple's lifestyle led them from living in a $700 a month rental apartment to properties of their own, a $130,000 Mercedes Benz, and affording to rent a house for nine months in Doral (Miami) after Hurricane Maria, so the plaintiff could give birth to the couple's second daughter. They acquired a $1.8 million residence that occupies two lots in Los Paseos, a gated residential development in San Juan, and a $1 million property in Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic. The wedding, which would take place on December 18, 2021, involved the payment of a $100,000 deposit to the St. Regis Hotel and a suit by designer Harry Robles that cost $17,000.

The corporate entities that were included as co-defendants in the case are: Rimas Entertainment, LLC; Rhymes Classics, LLC; Noah Assad, LLC; Habibi Management, Inc. and/or Habibi LLC; GMESPR, LLC; Noah Assad Presents, Inc.; Skyline, Inc.; NAB Development Corp. and/or NAB Investment Corp.; and Brummana LLC. Of these, Rimas Entertainment is the beneficiary of an export tax decree from the Government of Puerto Rico under Law 20.

Last week, the plaintiff notified the court that she was withdrawing the lawsuit, for now, against the corporate entities, but was keeping it against her former partner.

To see the lawsuit (in Spanish), click here.