A federal judge has slapped Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis with a daily fine of $5,000 until he returns two luxury cars that belong to the business, whose brand of videos was recently sold out of bankruptcy, The Washington Post reported yesterday. The fines, which start today, came after Hon. Sandra Klein did not buy Francis’s explanation for why he has not returned the 2007 Cadillac Escalade or 2012 Bentley Flying Spur. Francis had said in court papers that he was “powerless” to return the autos after a Mexican strip club owner took the vehicles. He is appealing the sanctions, and Judge Klein has set a July 31 hearing. Bankruptcy lawyers also won approval to bill Francis for the expensive legal headache he caused by visiting Girls Gone Wild’s former headquarters twice in May. The Girls Gone Wild brand went up for sale after the business’s operations filed for chapter 11 protection in February 2013.
