The rich and the cheated: 10 celebrities who fell victim to scammers

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

There is a very widespread opinion that many celebrities who now flash on TV screens, on the Internet and on glossy covers have made a fortune by dishonest means - by hiding from taxes or committing other financial frauds. But this is far from the case. And among the rich and famous there are many who have earned their hard-earned zeal. And besides, along with fame and wealth, new problems come - there are always ill-wishers who do not mind taking other people's money. In this review, a story about celebrities whose detractors have climbed into their wallets.

1. Keira Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon

The biggest losses in terms of finances were incurred by the star couple Kira and Kevin, who always tried to stay in the background and not flicker on famous tabloids. However, at some point, this secretive couple also made headlines when it became known that they were victims of the famous financial pyramid Bernie Madoff Ponzi, who deceived many people not only in the United States, but also abroad. It is noted that the exact amount of losses is unknown, but the star couple had to work for several years to patch such a hole in the budget.

2. Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber

Celebrities are also dealing with some pretty big ransomware. In 2009, an unknown German named Edis Kayalar tried to trick the supermodel Cindy and her businessman husband Rande Gerber, extorting one hundred thousand dollars from them, allegedly for a picture of their daughter, where she was bound and gagged. The photo was taken with the help of the child's nanny, with whom she played a special game, tying the girl up and taking this picture.

As it turned out during the investigation, the nanny of the Crawford-Gerber family for a long time met with Edis, with whom they came up with a whole plan of extortion. Cindy fired the nanny immediately after the first attempt to get her funds. Edis was extradited to the United States on extortion charges. It is worth noting that initially Gerber planned to pay the required amount, and only then decided to find out the history of the ill-fated picture.

3. Kiefer Sutherland

It is not known exactly why Kiefer decided to invest in cattle, but it is known that he was dumped for a rather large amount. Michael Wayne Carr struck a commercial deal with his clients, wanting to buy back several bulls in Mexico and sell them in the United States for big money. He also convinced Sutherland to take part in this, and he agreed, giving Carr about 869 thousand dollars. A little later, Keefer's lawyers and the prosecutor found out that Michael never had the bulls he talked about, and he never was involved in buying and selling them. During the judicial investigation, Carr was charged with several charges at once.

4. Robert De Niro

In the bins of Robert, there were about 50 paintings that were written and created by his talented father. The actor decided to transfer them for safekeeping to the well-known owner of the art gallery, Lawrence Salander, that he had to use them at exhibitions and discoveries, and then find buyers. However, Salander sold all of these paintings, keeping the profits to himself in order to cover some of his myriad debts. He not only stole all the money from sales that belonged to Robert, but also emptied the accounts of some of his clients totaling $ 88 million.

5. Elton John

The renowned musician has filed a lawsuit against business manager Andrew Hadion and Pricewaterhouse Coopers, alleging they did not pay him the full amount for one of his tours. The total cost of the claim was approximately $ 29 million. However, the court was unable to find convincing evidence and disagreed with Elton's arguments. He had to pay about 10 million for legal services, and during the court case some details of his life were revealed that shocked his fans. So, the public called the decision to spend over 400 thousand dollars on flowers alone, which were in John's room during the tour, very extravagant.

6. Sting

This star singer has been making music for a huge number of years, having managed to accumulate a pretty decent fortune during this time. Perhaps that is why he did not immediately notice the loss of a certain amount, which his financial consultant Kate Moore had stolen from his accounts. He withdrew small amounts from almost a hundred different accounts of the singer, having managed to accumulate about $ 9.8 million. It is known that Keith himself wasted money on rather stupid investments and personal expenses. The main reason why the public was outraged by this news was the carelessness of their favorite singer, who did not notice such a huge hole in his own budget.

7. Liv Tyler

Every Hollywood beauty needs her own beautician so that her skin always looks dazzling under camera flashes. Liv Tyler turned to celebrity professionals like Marie Gabriela Hashemipour, who managed to work on the image of people like Jennifer Aniston and Cher. It turned out that Marie managed to save the credit card numbers of her clients, and then performed a simple operation, using their funds at her discretion. Liv's managers calculated that over 214 thousand dollars were withdrawn from the actress's card, which the actress herself never spent. As it turned out, Marie did not only face masks, but also spent her free time shopping, trying to feel like a star.

8. Billy Joel

This musician has become a victim of deception not only by his financial assistant, but also by a family member. To be precise, his brother-in-law, Frank Weber, had been siphoning off funds from the accounts of a famous musician for a long time, and he did it so masterly and imperceptibly that Billy himself did not immediately notice the leakage of funds. According to calculations, Weber was able to shake about $ 90 million from the accounts of the star. In 1989, Billy went to court, filing a lawsuit against his brother-in-law, accusing him of breach of contract, as well as major financial fraud. However, the information provided was not enough, and the musician was returned only $ 2 million.

9. Ben Stiller

Ben's financial assistant and planner was star manager Dana Giachetto, who managed to steal over 250 thousand dollars from the actor's account. And this is all in addition to the fact that Giachetto pulled out a total of about $ 10 million from his wealthy clients. Dana was sentenced to three years in prison for theft on an especially large scale, which, however, did not cancel the rather big problems of his clients, including Stiller himself.

10. Uma Thurman

The star of Kill Bill looks tough and unyielding, so it's hard enough to believe she was cheated by a million dollars. And her financial assistant and planner Kenneth Starr did it. Uma Thurman hired him to manage her financial portfolio and manage money on behalf of the actress herself. In the end, the girl noticed that a rather large amount disappeared from her account, and therefore decided to talk to Kenneth. Of course, he immediately returned the money to her, but his other machinations were also revealed.

It turned out that Starr managed to "withdraw" about $ 33 million from all of his clients, using them to pay for his personal needs and expensive gifts for strippers. Kenneth was so busy with a myriad of money to pamper more than just his wife that he completely abandoned his clients and forgot about being careful. Ultimately, he was prosecuted and sentenced to 90 months in prison.

It is hard to believe that, before coming to fame and success, initially not only made ends meet, but also were homeless. But as it turned out, the thorny path was not traversed in vain.