Alberto “Daniel” Driz, pictured with his twin brother Maurice, from Daniel Driz’s own X (Twitter) account.
Alberto Daniel Driz, who goes by "Daniel," is the twin brother of Maurice Driz and the lead-named defendant in the civil case. With Maurice, he co-owned the family's chain of Blaze Pizza franchises, and in the late 1980s the brothers ran the British hosiery venture Cosy Legs. He is the one who moved his ownership stake out of reach the moment the lawsuits began.
In the criminal case over the 2015 attack (No. BA436130), Alberto's felony assault charges ended in a dismissal following a disposition. Separately, he was convicted in a 2017 case at the Airport Courthouse (No. SA096430) of being a felon in possession of a firearm (Penal Code 29800(a)(1)), a charge that by its own terms means he was already a felon. For that case he was represented by the celebrity defense attorney Blair Berk.
Alberto's signature move is the reason there is a second lawsuit. In Greene v. Koral (L.A. Superior Court No. 23STCV24928), the Greenes allege that he transferred his 49% stake in the Blaze Pizza holding company and ten franchises to a man named Peter Koral in below-market "fire sale" deals on December 22 and 23, 2016, to make himself look "insolvent and/or judgment proof." The timing is the tell: the transfers came just days after the Greenes filed suit, and the same day Blaze Pizza told its partners internally that "Daniel Driz, his brother, and his nephew have been removed from all Blaze Pizza operations." In April 2024 a judge let the fraudulent-transfer claims proceed. These are allegations the court has allowed to move forward, not findings proven at trial.
In Vilma Aguilar v. Blaze Pizza, LLC (Los Angeles Superior Court, 2018), a former employee who was hired at 16 accused her bosses of inappropriate comments and touching, and said she was retaliated against, transferred more than 20 miles away, after she complained. A jury sided with her and awarded close to $500,000, of which roughly $85,000 in punitive damages was assessed against Alberto (Daniel) Driz personally. He and his twin Maurice were both named as individual defendants. It is part of the documented record of how he did business.
In July 2021 an L.A. jury ordered Alberto and his co-defendants to pay $72,645,492. Roughly $12.1 million of the punitive damages was assessed against him, and he is jointly liable for all of it. With California's 10% statutory interest, the debt has grown toward $122 million, and it remains entirely uncollected while the Greenes fight in court to reach the assets he moved. He represented himself at the civil trial.
Sources: LA Superior Court dockets No. SA096430 (People v. Alberto Daniel Driz), BA436130, and BC643270; · Greene v. Koral ruling (23STCV24928) · L.A. Patch · MyNewsLA (harassment verdict).
