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Alanis Morissette's business manager admits to stealing $6.3 million.

Celebrities place a great amount of trust in their business managers but sometimes that trust is violated, this time to the tune of millions of dollars from several celebrities and sporting figures, only one of whom has been named in court documents.

Jonathan Todd Schwartz, 48, has admitted to stealing $6.5 million from singer Alanis Morissette, one of his many celebrity clients. Schwartz made the admission for a federal plea agreement he reached over his crimes, according to case information on MoreLaw.

He was found guilty of committing “wire fraud” and filing false tax returns between 2010 and 2014 and it was during that time he stole the money from Morissette.

Schwartz also admitted to stealing an additional $2.25 million from other celebrities and sporting figures he worked for – although Morissette, 42, is the only client who has been identified.

 

It was during Schwartz’s time working with GSO Business Managment LLC in the Sherman Oaks in the US when the fraud was committed. The company gives financial guidance to it’s celebrity clientele as well as managing bank accounts, handling accounts payable and preparing budgets. Schwartz admitted to taking clients’ money for his own personal use including “Client Number 2”, since identified as Alanis Morissette, without her permission.

 

Singer Alanis Morissette and husband Mario Treadway. Image: Getty.
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It was celebrity news site TMZ that first reported Morissette's discovery that millions of her earnings were missing. She allegedly confronted Schwartz with her concerns and was told he'd invested her money in a marijuana business. They reportedly settled in 2016 however the singer hired a new financial manager who discovered the extent of the fraud.

Schwartz had previously worked with Beyonce and Mariah Carey before his crimes were revealed.

TMZ claims Schwartz used money stolen from clients to live a lavish lifestyle including trips to tourist destination Bora Bora as well as to pay off gambling debts. He stole the money by making bank transfers and and withdrawls.

Morrissette is certainly not the first to enter a legal stoush with her business manager, with a long list of entertainers having launched legal action over claims of mismanaged finances including Rihanna, Sting, Elton John, Ben Stiller, Uma Thurman and Nicholas Cage.

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In the ruling against Schwartz the judge stated, "Money managers have fiduciary and moral responsibilities to their clients that begin with preserving client assets and not using that money to line their own pockets... This defendant violated this basic principle.”

Schwartz is set to appear in United States District Court on February 1 to enter an official guilty plea in the case and he faces a maximum sentence of 23 years in federal prison for his crimes, however as part of the plea agreement could get as little as four to six years. He has also agreed to pay $8.2 million in restitution.