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Stripper Turned Alleged Ponzi Schemer's Life "Upside Down"
By
Jen Chung
Published May 29, 2010
Modified May 29, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 29, 2010
Modified May 29, 2010
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The tale of accountant-turned-alleged Ponzi scammer Kenneth Starr has plenty grist for the mill, thanks to his celebrity clients like Uma Thurman, Al Pacino and Martin Scorsese and his stripper-turned-pole dancing philanthropist third wife Diane Passage. An "insider" tells the Daily News, "The story of Ken Starr is simple. He was one of the world's greatest salesmen whose entire life was turned upside down by his infatuation for a stripper."
Starr is accused of taking money from clients to shift to himself and other clients—to the tune of $30 million. The "insider" says that Starr's transformed from accountant with a bad haircut and glasses to a "bubbly and hip" guy when he started "handling the money of famous old family estates, such as the Mellon family" and when he met Scores stripper and single mom Passage.
He dumped his second wife, who suffers from MS (and who used to be his secretary—yes, Starr did dump his first wife for her) and was happy to attend any event—though mainly B-list ones— to show off Passage. He also funded Passage's record label, donated tens of thousands to Democratic leaders, and lately, "He had even taken to kissing other men on the lips - not sexually, just in a weird rock-star type of way."
The Post says Pacino left Starr's firm before the Ponzi scheme was revealed: "Pacino told one of Starr's top account managers, 'I'm leaving with you or without you, so if you want to retain my business, you need to leave,' said the source, who is familiar with the Starr & Co. firm." The account manager ended up opening his own firm with Pacino as a client.
The Daily News' insider says, that in true Ponzi fashion, Starr "always made a big thing of acting as though he was too big, too important or too busy to take your investment. But in the end, he'd take anything - half a million, a million." Yet he's "never explain what the investments were... If you asked to see any paper to back up your investments, he would say things like, 'Oh, the Chinese don't give paper.' " Starr, who was found by the authorities cowering under a pile of clothes in his Upper East Side apartment, is being held without bail.
Tagged
al pacino
celebrity client
diane passage
fraud
investment
kenneth starr
martin scorsese
ponzi scheme
uma thurman
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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