By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo News Editor
The $30 million Ponzi scheme that unraveled in New York City Thursday shook the worlds of finance, entertainment, courts and politics.
The criminal complaint released offered many details, but left readers to connect the dots. Some of the identities of those involved — either as clients, or associates, of the defendants — have emerged, and some are still a mystery. What follows is DNAinfo's breakdown of the players involved.
For a copy of the complaint, click here.
Kenneth Starr, defendant: A financial advisor with clients including Annie Leibovitz, Martin Scorsese and Wesley Snipes. He was indicted on three fraud-related charges, including wire fraud and money laundering. Starr allegedly solicited and then pocketed cash from at least a dozen high-profile clients, using the funds from one to pay back others who demanded returns on their investments, the complaint says. Among his alleged fraudulent acts was the creation of a shell company called "Wind River LLC," which authorities said he and his co-defendant used to launder money. Read more here.
Diane Passage: Passage is Starr's wife and a former Scores stripper and pole dancer. She allegedly milked her husband's $30 million scam for access to a series of jobs, including a 1-year, $150,000 consultant position at the music label Glassnote. Under the terms of the hire, Passage had "no real responsibility and showed up once per month," the complaint said. Passage is not named as a defendant in this indictment.
"A former hedge fund manager and well known philanthropist," Client 1: The identity of this client is unknown, but she is described in the complaint as a former hedge fund manager and a well-known philanthropist. The woman hired Starr for help with her personal tax returns, filings and accounting for her philanthropic organization in early 2009, and eventually gave him control over her accounts. In early 2010 the philanthropist became concerned about the quality of service she was receiving from Starr, and she and her attorney discovered that $2.2 million of her money had been wired to an associate of Starr's — see Associate 4, below — without her consent.
Uma Thurman, Client 2: The complaint refers to Client 2 as "the actress." The Daily Beast identified her as Uma Thurman. The actress retained Starr as a financial adviser from the late 1990s to about 2002, according to the complaint. The actress told prosecutors that Starr sent her statements throughout the years that made it hard to follow what was going on with her finances. At the beginning of 2010, the actress stormed into Starr's office demanding to know why $1 million had been transferred out of her accounts, prosecutors said. Read more about how Starr allegedly defrauded the actress here.
Jim Wiatt, Client 3: Little is said about this client, who is identified in the complaint as a former executive of a talent agency. The Daily Beast reported Client 3 is former William Morris Agency Chief Executive Officer Jim Wiatt. In a classic Ponzi maneuver, Starr took $1 million from the former talent executive to pay back the actress, Client 2, according to the complaint.
"Stepchild of a deceased heir to a business fortune," Client 4: This client is identified as a "stepchild of a deceased heir to a business fortune," but the complaint did not detail how this client had been defrauded.
Rachel Mellon, Client 5: Listerine heiress and philanthropist Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon is the "elderly heiress" described as Client 5. The nearly 100-year-old heiress "had not the slightest inkling" that anything was wrong with her investments with Starr, who had been a friend and financial advisor for three decades, her lawyer said. Bunny is best known for contributing funds to then-presidential candidate John Edwards, who allegedly (and unbeknown to Bunny) used the funds for his increasingly tawdry exploits with his mistress. Read more about the money Starr allegedly stole from Bunny here.
Marvin Rosen, Associate 3: The complaint describes Associate 3 as "a former national official of a major political party." Politico's Ben Smith speculates that the person in question is Marvin Rosen, based off a connection made in the complaint between Associate 3 and a firm called Marose LLC — that firm is reportedly registered in New York State records to Rosen. Bloomberg News also noted that Rosen is one of Starr's partners at Diamond Edge Capital Partners, which markets investments to public pension funds. Associate 3 allegedly had ownership in some of the companies Starr and Stein fraudulently created and managed for their own profit.
"A partner in a prominent national law firm," Associate 4: This player pops up more than any other associate throughout the complaint. He is identified only as a lawyer who practices at a "prominent national law firm" in New York. Associate 4 seems to be very closely involved with Starr and was the recipient of funds from several of Starr's clients who had no idea who the lawyer was or why their money was going to him. The complaint suggests the lawyer was involved in Starr's purchase of a $7.5 million condo on the Upper East Side using his clients' money, but it is unclear what role he played in the purchase.
Starr employee Associate 5: A Starr employee who was referred to only once in passing in the complaint.
Associate 6: This associate is principal of a company called "Universal Identification Solutions LLC," which Starr said was a voting machine company that provides services worldwide, including to several Central and South American countries. Jacob the Jeweler and his wife invested $2 million in the company and Starr's behest and never saw a cent.
Associate 7: Another Starr employee who was involved in opening the alleged shell company Wind River LLC, according to the complaint.
Associate 8: This man is a family friend of Stein's who provided Stein and Associate 2 with credit cards to use in 2002, despite the fact that he and his wife make a small amount of money. When Associate 8's credit card company, American Express, inquired how he could possibly pay all the charges on his small income, Associate 2 and Stein listed him as a partner in Wind River LLC. Stein and Associate 2 eventually paid back Associate 8 for all the charges they made on his cards, and in a seeming gesture of goodwill, also paid for all the charges Associate 8 and his wife had made on their own cards too, according to the complaint.
Associate 9: Stein also often used Associate 9's credit cards to pay expenses when he could not afford them. Associate 9 is the brother of Associate 2. Believing that Stein was “well off,” Associate 9 freely allowed Stein to use his credit card. He was paid back some of the charges but not all of them, and Associate 9 ultimately had to borrow money from his own retirement fund to pay for all of the charges he had incurred on Stein’s behalf.
