Britney Spears has accused her father of paying a security team to track the locations of those close to the singer.
As reported by The New York Times, Spears lawyer claimed in court papers filed yesterday (January 18) that the star’s dad, Jamie Spears, had committed financial misconduct on a number of occasions over several years.
Jamie was suspended from his role as his daughter’s conservator by a judge last September, with the conservatorship then being terminated completely in November after 13 years.
Last month, it was reported that Jamie had asked Britney to cover his ongoing legal costs – a request the singer’s attorney Mathew Rosengart called “an abomination” and “legally meritless”.
Now, in an effort to block Jamie’s plea, Britney’s lawyer has made various accusations of financial improprieties against him and others involved with the conservatorship.
Among them is the allegation that Jamie paid almost $6million (£4.4m) from Britney’s estate to a security firm that obtained private phone records for the singer’s mother and others and obtained GPS “ping data” to track the locations of people close to the star.
Spears at the red carpet for the 29th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in 2018. Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images.
Per The New York Times‘ article, lawyer Mathew S Rosengart referred to several revelations about the handling of the conservatorship which were first reported by the outlet last September.
He also cited new findings from Sherine Ebadi, an investigator at Kroll and a former FBI agent retained by Britney’s legal team. Within the new court filing is the declaration from Ebadi that she had spoken to Alex Vlasov, a former employee of Black Box Security.
It was previously claimed that the firm had surveilled Britney’s phone and monitored calls with lawyers, as well as secretly recording her in her bedroom.
During a subsequent interview with Ebadi, Vlasov spoke about how Black Box allegedly obtained private phone records for Britney’s mother and others to determine if they were speaking to the media.
According to the filing, he also said that the security company would obtain GPS “ping data” in a bid to locate certain individuals related to Britney, including her ex-boyfriends.
The declaration states that such methods of surveillance are usually only available to law enforcement authorities via a court order. It is not known how Black Box could have gained access to this information.
Supporters of Britney Spears during a #FreeBritney rally in Miami, Florida on August 07. Credit: Jason Koerner/Getty Images.
Ebadi claimed that the firm had been paid almost $6 million from Britney’s estate. Additionally, the Kroll investigation has uncovered several other instances in which Jamie engaged in financial misconduct, self-dealing and mismanagement during his role as his daughter’s conservator.
This includes the claim that Jamie sold Britney’s childhood home to himself, used her money to fund his living expenses and paid $1.5million (£1.2m) towards the upkeep of Britney’s Louisiana property (a figure “two to three times” the value of the house).
According to the report, Jamie evaded a question related to these “extraordinarily high expenses” when questioned in court.
Over the course of the conservatorship, Britney approved the payment of more than $30million (£22m) in fees to dozens of law firms, which included “large payments for evidently small matters, as well as significant overlap in work performed”.
The new filings include included extra requests for discovery and depositions that Britney’s legal team believes will result in finding more evidence of misconduct.
Meanwhile, Jamie Spears’ requests for his legal fees to be covered by Britney are due to be discussed at a court hearing in Los Angeles later today (January 19).
A previous filing claimed that a “prompt payment” of Jamie’s legal costs were required in order for the conservatorship to be “wound up quickly and efficiently to allow Britney to take control of her life as she and Jamie desire”.
You can view the original article HERE.
