Scammed: 16 Celebrities Who Lost Their Fortune to Fraudsters

Even in the glitzy world of fame and fortune, celebrities can fall prey to the clever scams of con artists. In this article, we’ll reveal the stories of 16 unlucky stars who were swindled out of their hard-earned money.

Ben Stiller

Ben Stiller - Lucky Team Studio _ Shutterstock.com
Photo Credit: Lucky Team Studio _ Shutterstock.com.

It’s difficult not to admire someone like Ben Stiller, who excels not only as a comedian but also as an actor, filmmaker, writer, and director. However, his numerous accomplishments and widespread fame also made him a prime target for scammers.

Unfortunately, Stiller was one of the victims of financial advisor Dana Giachetto who stole more than $200,000 from the actor. Giachetto was caught and eventually prosecuted.

Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone Denis Makarenko _ Shutterstock.com
Photo Credit: Denis Makarenko _ Shutterstock.com.

If you were an advisor to the man who created and starred in “Rocky” and the “Rambo” franchise, you would probably think twice before using that position to scam him.

However, that’s exactly what Kenneth Starr, a celebrity financial advisor, did before 2010 when he was arrested for stealing millions from his clients.

Apparently, he used these millions of dollars so he could live in the lap of luxury in Manhattan. Starr did serve time for seven years but was released in the year 2016.

Kevin Bacon

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Kevin Bacon and his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, were unfortunate victims of the notorious Bernie Madoff’s high-profile scams.

In 2009, he swindled the couple out of a large sum of money, though not as much as Kevin Bacon admitted other victims had lost.

Jack Nicholson

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Photo Credit: 360b _ Shutterstock.com.


In the 90s, Todd Michael Volpe scammed Jack Nicholson and many others out of almost 2 million dollars in an art-dealing sham. Nicholson himself contributed at least six hundred thousand of these losses, which is detailed in the book Volp contributed to after his jail time.

Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway Everett Collection _ Shutterstock.com
Photo Credit: Everett Collection _ Shutterstock.com.

Anne Hathaway was engaged to Raffaello Follieri, who had scammed over two million dollars from several actors, including Hathaway.

Follieri pretended to be a property investor, and when caught, he pleaded guilty and was deported back to Italy.

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro - Denis Makarenko _ Shutterstock.com
Photo Credit: Denis Makarenko _ Shutterstock.com.

After seeing Robert De Niro in some of his more intimidating tough-guy roles, very few people might believe that any con artist would try to pull one over on him. However, De Niro was conned by Lawrence Salander in the early 2000s.

Salander made his money by selling art. Tragically, he sold over 45 of Robert De Niro’s recently deceased father’s artwork, then refused to pay the De Niro estate for these transactions. Because of this, De Niro lost around a million dollars. 

Elton John

Elton John Featureflash Photo Agency _ Shutterstock.com
Photo Credit: Featureflash Photo Agency _ Shutterstock.com.


2001 saw famous superstar and beloved songwriter of “The Lion King,” Elton John, lose a long and hard court battle. John had filed a lawsuit worth 25 million against his own recently-fired accounting firm.

Unfortunately, if Elton John’s claims were to be believed, this firm got away with overcharging and mismanaging his funds.

Dane Cook

Photo Credit: Tinseltown/Shutterstock.


Dane Cook was scammed by his own family: a half-brother named Darryl McCauley, who was given the job of Cook’s business manager during the 90s.

McCauley teamed up with his wife, Erika, to embezzle more than 10 million from Cook.

Billy Joel

Billy Joel - Debby Wong _ Shutterstock.com
Photo Credit: Debby Wong _ Shutterstock.com.


The Piano Man himself was a victim of a scam by his own manager, Frank Weber. Weber also happened to also be Joel’s brother-in-law and the godfather of his child.

Weber stole from Joel in the form of criminal investments and lies. He was not only fired and prosecuted, but Joel’s family cut ties with Frank Weber.

Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier - Denis Makarenko _ Shutterstock.com
Photo Credit: Denis Makarenko _ Shutterstock.com.


Sidney Poiter became a victim of one of the worst scam artists of the 80s, Charles Agee Atkins.

Atkins created a false tax shelter that collected billions from joiners in the form of fake losses. 

Sting

Sting - Jaguar PS _ Shutterstock.com
Photo Credit: Jaguar PS _ Shutterstock.com.


Sting was making plenty of money as a pop star in the 90s, and unfortunately, his manager tried to take advantage of that.

In 1996, the manager had stolen around 5 million dollars from Sting after a partnership of 15 years. He invested the money in shady business deals and tried to buy himself out of personal debts before getting caught.

John Malkovich

John Malkovich - Kathy Hutchins _ Shutterstock.com
Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins _ Shutterstock.com.


John Malkovich lost over 2 million dollars thanks to Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

 

Malkovich was not the only celebrity to be victimized by Madoff. He also ensnared Steven Speilberg, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and, as previously mentioned, Kevin Bacon and his wife. 

Kiefer Sutherland

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Photo Credit: eatureflash Photo Agency _ Shutterstock.com.


It was a cattle scam that victimized Kiefer Sutherland to the tune of over $800,000.


This was thanks to con artist Michael Wayne Carr. 

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Photo Credit: BAKOUNINE _ Shutterstock.com.

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Photo Credit: DFree _ Shutterstock.com.

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Photo Credit: Rena Schild Shutterstock.com.

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Photo Credit: Andrea Raffin _ Shutterstock.com.

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