Alanis Morissette: My Ex-Manager Stole $5M

He claims it went into marijuana grow-ops: suit
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted May 18, 2016 10:18 AM CDT
Alanis Morissette: My Ex-Manager Stole $5M
Alanis Morissette in 2012.   (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP)

Alanis Morissette has had to swallow a jagged little pill: The Canadian singer says she was robbed of almost $5 million. The alleged culprit? Her former business manager to the stars. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Morissette says she fired Jonathan Schwartz of GSO Business Management—whose clients have reportedly included Beyonce and Mariah Carey—in March and learned shortly after that he had taken $4.7 million from her accounts without permission from 2010 to 2014. Schwartz told her new manager that Morissette "spends a lot of cash so I get large amounts from the bank, and keep the money in my safe" for when she needs it, the complaint reads. But after Morissette disputed that, she says Schwartz claimed she put the money into illegal marijuana grow-ops, per Courthouse News.

Schwartz also let Morissette transfer $8 million out of her investment accounts and didn't tell her she "dipped into her savings," the suit alleges, per the Wall Street Journal. "Defendants concealed distributions from Morissette, convincing her that she was in tremendous financial shape when, in fact, they were draining her assets." Specifically, Morissette says Schwartz convinced her not to perform five shows in Las Vegas because she was "set for life." She's seeking more than $15 million. GSO says it was "shocked" by its own investigation into Schwartz, whom the firm accuses of "burning through money to sustain a lavish lifestyle" in a lawsuit filed Monday. It maintains, however, that Morissette requested large amounts of cash and often went over budget, per the BBC. (The singer claimed her dog was also stolen.)

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