Who was the accountant who ripped off al pacino?
The accountant was Kenneth Starr — no relation to the independent counsel who investigated Bill Clinton.1 2
Starr was a Bronx-born celebrity accountant and money manager whose client list was a Hollywood Who's Who: Al Pacino, Uma Thurman, Martin Scorsese, Natalie Portman, Carly Simon, Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Lauren Bacall, Neil Simon, and Barbara Walters, among others.1 2 He ran a Ponzi-style scheme, using money from some clients' accounts to cover shortfalls in others', and reportedly pocketed as much as $59 million.2 3
Pacino says he started getting warnings around 2011 that his accountant "was not to be trusted," but his lavish spending masked the problem — a Beverly Hills mansion, a Gulfstream 550, and an entire floor of the Dorchester hotel in London.4 5 He wasn't even signing his own checks; Starr was.4 6 When Pacino finally looked, his $50 million was gone.7 8
Starr pleaded guilty in September 2010 and was sentenced in March 2011 to 7.5 years in prison.1 3 The judge, Shira Scheindlin, went lenient partly on the reasoning that his victims were rich and didn't go broke — a claim Pacino might dispute.1
The fallout reshaped Pacino's career: he took roles he didn't care about, starting with Jack and Jill, because he needed the money.7 5
Yes, Kenneth Starr was Jewish.1 2
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