Ponzi Schemer Allegedly Bilked Celebs of $30M

Clients included Uma Thurman and Martin Scorsese
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 27, 2010 3:38 PM CDT
Ponzi Schemer Allegedly Bilked Celebs of $30M
Actress Uma Thurman attends the premiere of "Motherhood" in New York, on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009.   (AP Photo/Peter Kramer)

A money manager who catered to high-profile celebrities and wealthy New Yorkers has been charged with running a $30 million Ponzi scheme. The client list of Kenneth Starr (no, not that Kenneth Starr) includes Uma Thurman and Martin Scorsese, reports Reuters. No details on exactly who lost what, but Starr made enough to afford a $7.5 million Manhattan apartment.

The indictment doesn't name names of possible victims, but it recounts "an actress" storming into Starr's office to demand to know where $1 million of her money went. Jacob Bernstein of the Daily Beast identifies her as Thurman. She reportedly did get her money back, though it came not from Starr but, in classic Ponzi fashion, another client. That unlucky guy was Jim Wiatt, the former head of William Morris, writes Bernstein.
(More Ponzi scheme stories.)

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