Detroit Radio: Couple Claims WCAR Bilked $1M

A couple and their son claim they have been bilked out of nearly $1 million they spent for what they believed was a 25 percent stake in Metro Detroit radio station WCAR 1090 AM NBC Sports, according to The Detroit News.

Drago and Jadranka Mihajlovski and their son Zive claim they invested $500,000 on August 12, 2012, for what was pitched to them as a 10 percent interest in WCAR. On Oct. 9, 2012, the three claim they invested another $450,000 for an additional 15 percent interest in the operation.

In a lawsuit filed in Oakland County Circuit Court, two family members claim they were also promised $50,000-a-year lifetime jobs as part of the deal.

The Mihajlovskis said they dealt with Sima Birach Jr., who said he was acting on behalf of Birach Holdings Corp., also known as WCAR.

Sima Birach Sr.

“I feel so sorry for these people,” said their attorney Barry F. Keller. “They worked seven days a week for years and ran an ice cream business which they sold to make investments. This is their life savings. He even talked them into leasing a car and painting WCAR all over it.

“After a couple paydays, the checks stopped,” said Keller. “When they started asking questions they were told they didn’t own anything and they weren’t getting their investment back.”

Birach’s father, who began buying up small radio stations in 1986, said his son “only leases WCAR” for $1 a year from him and has no authority to sell of any of it.  Birach said he had a good relationship with his son but in recent years has been sued as a result of various bad business decisions made by his son.

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