Nicole Murphy has good reason to be incensed, after a friend swindled her out $11 million.
According to the Daily Mail, Troy David Stratos billed himself as a wealthy financial adviser and convinced his long-time friend Murphy to invest a large portion of her $15 million divorce settlement from Eddie Murphy, into an investment.
Instead he used the funds to finance his gambling habit and extravagant lifestyle.
Murphy gave Stratos millions in a trust account that also gave him full access to her personal finances, including real estate and jewelry. It was said on one occasion that he gave a $100 to a valet to park his car, when parking was free— just to show off his “bigger than life” bank account.
For the large sum of money, Stratos told the former model that he knew members of a Middle Eastern royal family interested in buying her home up for sale in Granite Bay, California. Convincing her to give him access to the home and lease luxury Rolls-Royce and BMW cars to make her property more attractive, he in turn, freeloaded in the 10-bedroom home and drove the cars.
The Daily Mail reports: Troy David Stratos, 50, appeared before US District Judge Troy Nunley on Wednesday and entered guilty pleas to 11 counts of wire and mail fraud, two counts of money laundering, and one count of obstruction of justice. Stratos is scheduled to be sentenced on November 17. Following the hearing, attorney Tom Johnson said the guilty plea was in his client’s ‘best interests’ because if the case were to proceed, ‘it would have been a terribly difficult trial.’
“I’m glad to hopefully have this really bad chapter in my life coming to an end with Troy Stratos finally being held accountable for what he did to me and my family,” Murphy told Daily Mail. “Hopefully with his day in court, justice will prevail and Troy Stratos will never be able to take advantage of someone’s trust ever again.”
If convicted, Stratos faces up to 20 years in prison for the wire and mail fraud charges, and up to 10 years for the money laundering and obstruction of justice charges.
PHOTO: FilmMagic
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Nicole Murphy’s High School ‘Friend’ Swindled Her Out Of Millions Of Dollars was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
