Celebs who got swindled: Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran almost lost US$400,000, Anne Hathaway got scammed out of US$2.4 million by her ex-boyfriend, and Robert De Niro got conned investing in art

Jul 9 , 2022

Celebrities Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Uma Thurman, Anne Hathaway and Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran were all victims of scams. Photos: Reuters/TPX Images of the Day, AFP, Reuters, @barbaracorcoran/Instagram

Finance managers with celebrity clients like Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Ben Affleck have served prison time for mishandling millions of dollars

Uma Thurman got her US$1 million back from Kenneth Starr, who was sued by Sylvester Stallone for misleading advice when Planet Hollywood was going bankrupt

When you’ve got millions of dollars sitting in the bank, knowing how to manage it can be a bigger problem than not having it at all. So it’s no surprise that celebrities, from Hollywood A-listers to reality TV and K-pop stars, rely on other people to take care of their assets. However, wealthy musicians, actors and even businesspeople themselves are vulnerable to being scammed by people they trust. Here are just a few incidents over the years, and how much cash was lost …

Ben Stiller – US$250,000

Ben Stiller was reportedly scammed out of US$250,000 by his financial adviser, Dana Giacchetto. Photo: AP Photo

Financial adviser Dana Giacchetto reportedly misappropriated up to US$10 million of his clients’ money, including US$250,000 from Zoolander actor Ben Stiller. Giacchetto was a stockbroker to stars such as Courteney Cox, Ben Affleck, Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio throughout the 1990s and at one point controlled US$100 million through his Cassandra Group. Some of his legitimate deals included brokering the sale of a Seattle record label to Warner Music Group for US$20 million, but his illegitimate dealings saw him sentenced to three years in prison.

He was released in 2003 and started a food business, but in 2016 was found dead at home at the age of 53.

Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran – US$400,000 (a close call)

Barbara Corcoran almost lost almost half a million dollars in a phishing scam. Photo: @barbaracorcoran/Instagram

Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran wasn’t betrayed by someone she knew, but her book-keeper wired US$388,700 to a scammer who posed as Corcoran’s assistant in an email phishing scam. The real estate mogul’s team realised what had happened when they noticed the email had an extra “0” in it, but by then the money had already been transferred. Corcoran was able to halt the transfer of funds before it could get to the scammer as it wasn’t wired directly.

Uma Thurman – US$1 million (demanded back)

Uma Thurman stormed into her financial planner Kenneth Starr’s office when he attempted to steal US$1 million from her. Photo: Reuters

Kill Bill star Uma Thurman took things into her own hands when her financial planner Kenneth Starr stole US$1 million of her hard-earned cash that was intended to pay her taxes and other bills. After finding out he’d bought himself a Manhattan condo with a 1,500 sq ft garden and an indoor swimming pool using money siphoned off from clients to fund his lavish lifestyle, she reportedly stormed his office and managed to get her money back the next day after Starr used funds from a former talent agent client and his wife.

Film director Martin Scorsese got out of his deal with Starr early, but others weren’t so lucky. Before his scam was discovered, Starr testified at Wesley Snipes’ tax evasion trial that he’d warned the actor about dubious practices.