A nightclub in central London narrowly avoided closure after a real estate boss used AI to write complaints from people who did not exist.
The LGBTQ+ venue Heaven received around 20 complaints from fake individuals, all calling for the permanent closure of the club. The venue had been briefly shut following an unrelated rape allegation against one of its bouncers.
Aldo d’Aponte, 47, pleaded guilty to writing two fake letters, posing as his neighbours, opposing the reopening of Heaven nightclub.
D’Aponte, the CEO of Arbitrage Group Properties, was handed a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £85 in costs, along with a £26 victim surcharge.
The nightclub’s licence was suspended in November 2024 after a bouncer was accused of raping a 19-year-old in his car after she was denied entry to a Halloween event.
Heaven was allowed to reopen a month later, following a council hearing and the introduction of enhanced security and welfare policies. The staff member was later found not guilty of the alleged offence.
During the hearing, council officials received several letters from an encrypted email address, all raising concerns about the nightclub.
The unusual nature of the letters prompted Philip Kolvin KC, a planning lawyer representing the venue, to run them through an AI detection tool.
His pro bono investigation revealed the people did not even exist and were not linked to the addresses provided.
Police later traced two of the letters to d’Aponte using IP address data.
The nightclub’s owner, Jeremy Joseph, has since questioned the integrity of the system, asking how fake complaints could be submitted so easily.
Mr Joseph was unable to read his victim impact statement due to the guilty plea, but told Metro: ‘What he has put us through was never made public; it was the worst time of my life’.
He added it has caused him to have to ‘fight’ for his business.
The use of AI was not mentioned in court on Thursday, according to The Guardian, and the CPS did not rely on it for their case.
D’Aponte and his husband had previously complained about noise from the nightclub, which they described as a ‘nuisance’. Their window overlooked the venue’s entrance.
In their own submission to Westminster City Council, they argued that the running of the club in its current form was ‘fundamentally at odds with family and community life in what is a residential neighbourhood’.
Saba Naqshbandi KC, representing d’Aponte, said his actions was ‘completely out of character’ – which was described as a ‘foolish and desperate act’.
She linked the incident to the ‘constant nuisance’ the family had endured from the venue over eight years.
Following the hearing, d’Aponte said he regretted his actions and called on the nightclub to ‘take steps’ to ‘better coexist’ with the local community.
He pleaded guilty under section 158 of the Licensing Act 2003. The legislation makes it an offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement in connection with an application for the grant, variation, transfer or review of a premises licence or a club premises certificate.
The maximum penalty is an unlimited fine.
The Metropolitan Police and Westminster City Council have been contacted for comment.
