Tupac Shakur’s Sister Sues Executor of Late Rapper’s Estate for Embezzlement
Tupac Shakur’s sister is suing the executor of his estate for the alleged embezzlement of millions of dollars.
In a lawsuit filed Monday per Billboard, the late rapper’s sister Sekyiwa Shakur is suing Tom Whalley, who has been the executor of Tupac’s estate since their mother Afeni’s death in 2016. She claims that he has embezzled at least $5.5 million over the past five years from Amaru Entertainment, which houses Tupac’s posthumous music.
“Whalley has already received more than $5.5 million that he has paid himself in the last five years through Amaru,” the lawsuit says. “He has effectively embezzled millions of dollars for his own benefit well in excess of what would be reasonably necessary to retain a properly qualified third-party to perform such services. As a result, Whalley has unreasonably enriched himself at the expense of the beneficiaries and in bad faith by taking excessive compensation in a position from which he should properly be barred based on the inherent conflict of interest.”
RELATED: Detectives Refer To Tupac’s Murder Investigation As “A Waste Of Time”
However, while speaking to Rolling Stone, Whalley’s lawyer Howard King denied the claims about his client.
“Tom Whalley was a friend and confidant of Tupac and his mother, Afeni Shakur, since signing Tupac to his first major recording deal in the Nineties and helping to arrange the funds to bail Tupac out of jail,” King said. “After Tupac passed away, Afeni requested Tom’s help with the job of managing the Tupac assets Afeni had inherited, a task he performed, without charge, for many years. In 2015, at Afeni’s request, Tom became the manager of Amaru, the company Afeni had established to protect and exploit all Tupac assets, on normal and typical terms. Under Tom’s management, enhanced by various personal loans Tom has made to the company, Amaru has gone from virtually insolvent to a solid financial footing. Afeni’s faith in Tom was further evidenced by her appointment of Tom as successor trustee of her trust. Tom became the current trustee after Afeni passed away, but has never taken any trustee’s fees even though his workload has increased well beyond what his management of Amaru required.”