Bank of America sues adviser to the stars

Kenneth Starr, who pleaded guilty in September in a $59 million fraud case, was sued by Bank of America Corp. over an unpaid $500,000 debt. Bank of America NA, a unit of the largest U.S. bank by assets, filed the lawsuit in New York state court in Manhattan on Oct. 21. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank named the money manager’s firm, Starr Investment Advisors LLC, as a co- defendant. “There is now immediately due and owing to the bank,” the principal sum of $500,000, plus accrued interest and late fees of about $12,000 through the filing date, according to the complaint. Starr, 66, pleaded guilty on Sept. 10 to three criminal counts before U.S. Magistrate Judge Theodore Katz in Manhattan. Starr, whose firm’s clients included heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon and actors Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes, told the court he had stolen as much as $50 million. He had faced 20 counts of wire fraud and one each of securities fraud, money laundering and fraud by an investment adviser. No sentencing date has been set. Bank of America alleges Starr had guaranteed the revolving line of credit extended to his firm in March and upon which it defaulted in June. Starr was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 10. Flora Edwards, Starr’s criminal defense attorney, didn’t immediately return a voice-mail message seeking comment after regular business hours. Starr was sued in June in the same court by Los Angeles- based City National Bank, which last month won a default judgment in the amount of $2.6 million that it claimed was owed on a promissory note executed in February. The case is Bank of America NA v. Starr Investment Advisors LLC, 651826-2010, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan). The criminal case is U.S. v. Starr, 10-cr-00520, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).