Here are a few of the strangest scams involving celebrities!
8 - Jack Nicholson Not all scams happen behind the victim's back.
Tod Volpe was a Hollywood aristocrat.
Throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s, Volpe rubbed shoulders with Hollywood A listers such as
Barbra Streisand, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Willis, and Sylvester Stallone.
Volpe was a big spender and hung around a crowd of high rollers.
But to maintain that lifestyle, he had to cut some corners.
In Volpe's own words, he could take a $100,000 painting and sell it to Jack Nicholson for
$300,000 without Nicholson even questioning it.
He'd built relationships with some of the wealthiest people in Hollywood, and they trusted
him to take care of them when it came to fine art.
In return, Volpe constantly overcharged them for the pieces, pocketing the extra money
to fund his lavish lifestyle.
By 1995, Volpe was filing for bankruptcy with debts of over $3 million.
Volpe rose in power from a humble origin.
He was an Oxford University student, and in the mid-1970s, he opened a small art gallery
with his cousin.
The gallery went viral and received a raving review in "The New York Times."
Shortly after, the gallery was filled with curious visitors and well-known celebrities.
He started living a luxurious life and rubbing shoulders with renowned A-listers like Joel
Silver and Larry Gordan, who eventually took him to Hollywood.
During this time, Todd decided to use his Hollywood connections to chase his dream of
making movies.
However, it was a terrible idea.
He later confessed that he would have been better off if he remained true to his art.
Todd believed that to be a celebrity; one had to live a luxurious life.
As he struggled to maintain an affluent lifestyle, his expenses got out of hand, and thus he
resorted to corruption.
He sold art pieces on his client's behalf without their permission.
He also used money meant to purchase art and instead used it to pay off his debts.
He eventually returned to New York, determined to revive the art business.
Unfortunately, the dealers became suspicious, and ultimately he filed for bankruptcy in
1995, now $3 Million in debt.
Todd didn't deny his crimes but confessed them.
In retrospect, he regarded his journey as one of love, truth, and friendship, stating
them as the core values and keys to a happy life.
7 - Robert De Niro Robert De Niro is one of the greatest actors
of our time.
He is known for starring in big blockbusters such as Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, The Godfather,
and Netflix's The Irishman.
In 2007 an art dealer named Lawrence Salander found himself staring down the barrel of several
lawsuits filed against him.
Among those filing was Robert de Niro.
However, this story has more to do with Robert de Niro Sr than the famous actor.
Robert De Niro Sr. was born an expressionist painter, and he was pretty successful in his
lifetime.
After his passing in 1993, his son left several of De Niro Sr's paintings in galleries controlled
by Salander-O'Reilly Galleries.
Salander then sold paintings in the gallery's possession, including De Niro Sr. pieces without
anyone's knowledge.
Salander's scheme defrauded $120 Million from the estates of those who held art in his gallery.
But, the scheme came to an end in 2010, when Salander, who was 60 at the time, pled guilty.
A judge sentenced to a minimum of six years in prison; however, he could spend upwards
of 18 years in jail.
Today, he continues to serve his time at Rikers Island in New York City.
Robert De Niro Senior’s pieces have sold in the range of tens of thousands of dollars,
and continue to be popular today.
According to the New York District Attorney's office, Salander scammed De Niro's estate
out of roughly a Million dollars worth of his father's art.
6 - Anne Hathaway Anne's career boomed in the mid-2000s when
she was dating Raffaello Follieri, an Italian real-estate mogul.
Follieri and Anne had a passionate love affair that involved intense flare-ups and the exchange
of luxurious gifts—you know—sapphires, diamonds, emeralds, and pearls.
Their relationship seemed perfect, but no one knew what was to come.
On June 24, 2008, Follieri was arrested on charges of fraud.
Follieri was the head of a Catholic Church scandal known as Vati-con, where he claimed
to have ties to the Vatican and began buying up church properties around the U.S.
That night, before he was arrested, he had his final phone call with Anne, who once again
expressed her deep love for him.
However, Follierie never heard from her again once the lid was blown off his scam.
The break-up was obviously heartbreaking.
He insists he has no complaints against Anne, but the hurt was visible on his face.
Vati-Con became a world-famous story of fraud and deception.
Follieri embezzled $50 Million from investors, most notably Ron Burkle, a private equity
billionaire who happens to be close friends with the Clinton family.
He claimed to be buying and selling Catholic churches on behalf of the Vatican.
At the time, the church was reeling in almost $2 Billion worth of settlement payments and
was looking to sell off assets they no longer needed.
However, instead of buying churches, investor money went towards funding he and Anne's lavish
lifestyle.
Of course, Anne had no idea the money was dirty.
She was under the impression that Follieri's endeavors were legit.
In October 2008, Raffello was found guilty of wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy.
He was given a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence.
In 2012, he was released from federal prison and immediately deported to Italy.
He has since been banned from entering the U.S.
Today, Anne Hathaway is happily married to Adam Shulman, an American actor and producer.
5 - Sting Gordan Matthew Thomas, also known as Sting,
is a renowned English musician and actor.
Sting received several accolades, including "Song of the Year," Grammy awards, Brit Awards,
and Academy Award nominations for his performances as a solo artist and as the frontman of The
Police.
Unfortunately for him, Sting was ripped off of $9.4 Million by his financial advisor,
Kieth Moore, who was then given a six-year prison sentence in Oct 1995.
Sting had made most of his money between 1986 and 1993.
His wealth was estimated to be around $110 million by 1995, but Moore spared no effort
to misappropriate it.
It was also revealed that as his accountant, Sting had blind trust in Moore.
He had roughly 100 bank accounts and little idea of how much money he actually had or
was earning.
Moore was charged with wire fraud, the illegal transfer of $7.8 million of Sting's money,
and the theft of $1.6 million in an attempt to stave off bankruptcy.
He invested the money in his business ventures and utilized it to pay off his debts and bills.
He also had plans to turn military aircraft into passenger-carrying planes in collaboration
with Mikhail Gorbachev, a former Soviet leader.
Gerard Butler, the judge of the case—not the actor—remarked in the end that Moore
had committed a colossal breach of trust.
Thankfully, by the end of the trial, most of Sting's losses had been recovered.
4 - Sylvester Stallone & Company Kenneth Ira Starr is a former American money
manager convicted of scamming celebrities and wealthy clients and using their money
to run a $59 Million Ponzi scheme.
He grew in status from a lowly accountant to the owner of his own investment company,
Starr & Company, LLC.
Eventually, he began to rub shoulders with popular business associates and A-listers
such as Al-Pacino, Carly Simon, and Uma Thurman.
His financial downfall was initiated with a lawsuit filed by Sylvester Stallone, who
held him responsible for a $10 million loss he suffered after Planet Hollywood, the restaurant
chain, collapsed in 1999.
The lawsuit alleged that Starr knew Planet Hollywood was on the verge of bankruptcy but
told Stallone not to pull out because it would "send the wrong message."
Other investors included Brue Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In May 2010, Starr was arrested for money laundering, fraud charges, and Ponzi schemes
and was given a 7-year prison sentence and order to pay millions in restitution.
At the time of his arrest, he was found hiding in a closet in his upscale Manhattan apartment,
funded by money he'd stolen from his clients.
He used his connection and silver tongue to convince his clients to give him control of
their financial affairs.
Starr's scam earned him the title of mini-Madoff, even though his petty $59 Million Ponzi scheme
pales in comparison to Bernie's $64 Billion scam.
3 - Dane Cook It's not always an outsider who turns out
to be an embezzler; fate can take a terrible twist.
A similar incident occurred to comedian Dane Cook whose half-brother, Darryl McCauley,
embezzled millions of dollars while serving as Cook's business manager in the 90s.
Dane Cook, an actor, and stand-up comedian is best known for his dark comedy, Dan in
Real Life, and Vicious Circle stand-up special.
McCauly and his wife admitted to stealing $12 Million worth of Dane Cook's money while
working as his financial managers.
The saga began in 2008 when Cook's lawyers noticed the missing millions.
The police were informed, and all eyes were on McCauly.
Police uncovered evidence revealing McCauly had transferred money from Cook's account
into his own account.
McCauly was sentenced to six years in prison and 16 years probation.
His wife got three years behind bars and 13 years probation.
They were ordered to pay back the money they'd stolen, and forfeit all assets purchased with
Dane Cook's cash.
2 - Alanis Morissette Alanis Morissette has sold more than 75 million
records worldwide, and with that, she’s made a lot of money.
However, Morissette discovered massive money embezzlement by her former financial manager,
John Shwartz.
He was responsible for managing accounts, investments, and paying bills on Morissettee's
behalf between 2009 and 2016.
Morissette decided she needed a change and hired a new money manager.
However, the new manager found some accounting inconsistencies.
They contacted GSO, an investment firm that Shwartz had been working for, and informed
them of missing millions.
They began digging into Shwartz's files and uncovered several other inconsistencies that
amounted to $4.8 Million dollars.
Schwartz denied the allegations at first but ultimately confessed to the theft after his
lavish spending was exposed.
With $75,000 in gambling debts and a $50,000 trip to Bora Bora, his lavish spending was
found to be funded with stolen funds.
Schwartz was sent to prison, and Morissette was able to recover her stolen money.
1 - Sidney Poitier Sidney L.Poitier was a staple of the Golden
Age of American Cinema.
He’s best known as the first Black man to win an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1964.
And he was someone who fell victim to Charles Atkins's $1.3 Billion dollar tax-shelter scam.
While he was running his scam, Atkins was pocketing $300,000 dollars a week.
He told investors that if they invested with him, they’d be avoiding a lot of tax.
Tax-shelters are perfectly legal as a way to "hide" money to avoid paying taxes on it.
These "hiding places" include 401k retirement plans, tax-friendly investments, or municipal
bonds.
In Atkin's case, he and his partners started The Securities Group, which marketed itself
as an investment banking firm.
However, the whole thing was just Atkin's piggy bank.
He told wealthy investors such as Sidney Poitier that for every $1 they invested, they could
claim $4 dollars in tax deductions.
The entire operation collapsed in 1987 when investigators caught on.
Poitier was never charged with any crimes connected to Atkin's scheme.
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