Kim Kardashian's Husband Was Target in $1.7M Investment Scam
Andrey C. Hicks, who attended the couple's August wedding, reportedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from Kris Humphries.
A guest at Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries' August wedding was arrested Friday for allegedly stealing $1.7 million as part of an investment scam, TMZ reported.
Andrey C. Hicks was taken into custody Friday on charges of wire fraud. Officials said it was likely he was trying to flee to Switzerland. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
According to TMZ, NBA player Humphries was one of the many investors targeted by Hicks, who has been the subject of a federal investigation on suspicion that he was raising money for a phony billion-dollar hedge fund. Humphries is said to have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hicks.
It's also believed that Hicks lied about his background, claiming he was a Harvard graduate when, in actuality, he was kicked out after three semesters for poor grades.
Hicks is said to have attended both the rehearsal dinner and wedding between Kardashian and Humphries. The couple were married Aug. 20 at a private estate in Montecito, Calif.
The wedding was estimated to cost at least half a million dollars, but those costs were offset by items such as a free $20,000 Vera Wang gown and a lucrative deal with E!.
Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian claim'There's more to us than TV' - Daily Telegraph
(L to R) Kourtney, Khloe and Kim Kardashian model their 'Kardashian Kollection' clothing. Picture: Nick Saglimbeni/Slick Force Inc. Source: Supplied
AS Kim and Khloé prepare to hit our shores, Richard Clune speaks to the Kardashian sisters about babies, bags and boobs.
Kourtney Kardashian is telling me about her experiences breastfeeding son Mason. After 14 months, she reclaimed ownership of her boobs, although she’ll probably allow a greater attachment period should she have another baby. Which, she hastens to add, “is in God’s hands and whatever is meant to be will be”.
The 32-year-old’s words flow with an ease more often associated with meteorological small talk than matters personal or maternal.
I guess it’s to be expected. Part of the supposed charm of the Kardashian clan is their honesty; the success of Keeping Up with the Kardashians and its spin-offs (Kourtney & Khloé Take Miami, Kourtney & Kim Take New York, Khloé & Lamar) is squarely built - beyond their attachments to cash and celebrity - on open and obtuse utterances.
Kourtney is speaking on the phone from New York. She’s just co-hosted The Today Show and I’m a little lost as to how our conversation went from fashion - sisters Kim and Khloé land in Australia this week to launch the Kardashian Kollection handbag line - to lactation.
It’s not that I wasn’t paying attention. The opportunity to interview a Kardashian is hard won and means you bring your A game. But I find her whiny Californian drawl (“heeelloooo”, “luuurve”, “yeeeahhh”) somewhat soporific. Well, that and the fact her answers are fashioned in a longwinded, like, you know, nonsensical kind of way.
For example: “It’s good,” Kourtney says in regards to Twitter being a helpful device for dispelling the daily rumours directed at the sisters. “But then, some things we say on Twitter might get twisted and then, you know, it causes a lot of the, um, stories that, you know, get misconcepted [sic], um, but Tweeting is a fun way for us to interact with our fans and it really helps us with our brands as well. People will say, ‘I love that bag you wore’ or ‘I need a great bag that can also be used as a diaper bag,’ or whatever. Like we always say, we’re a brand for our fans.
“And we love social media because we can communicate with fans. But, I mean, even if I spell something wrong - not that I’m spelling it wrong; I’ll accidentally leave out a letter - people will go nuts and say, ‘You spelt it wrong,’ and I’ll be like, ‘All right, people, relax. I left out a letter; I’m human.’”
Some argue what the Kardashians represent is anything but human; that the members of the TV clan - mum and manager Kris, stepdad Bruce Jenner, siblings Rob, Kendall and Kylie - are alien to reality and solely responsible for the proliferation of idiocy among girls of a certain age. (Or the fact those girls now spell crazy with a K.)
But it’s easy to knock the family, who launched the original series only four years ago, and harder to admit the girls - arguably pushed into the limelight by their mother - have achieved incredible success.
Also speaking from New York, Khloé, 27, admits initial interest in letting cameras into her life (“18 hours a day, seven days a week”) was driven to further the fashion boutique Dash, which she runs with Kim and Kourtney.
“We were the sole employees six days a week and never had help for three-and-a-half years,” Khloé says of the early days. “And we were content working in retail. It took some convincing [to agree to be filmed], but we could see some benefits. But we never thought it would be as big as it is.”
The Kardashians are certainly a pop cultural phenomenon; a lucrative marketing machine reported to have collectively amassed $65 million in 2010. (That’s more than the estimated combined earnings of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.)
Their fashion boutique has expanded from LA to Miami and New York, with their cache also attached to products from shoes to sheets, candles to calendars and everything in between.
Broadcast network E! has also enjoyed the Kardashian’s success. Kim’s August wedding to NBA player Kris Humphries, filmed as a stand-alone episode, trumped all ratings records, before the season four finale drew 4.8 million viewers - E!’s biggest-ever audience.
Despite the spin-offs, Kim remains the cash cow. The 31-year-old former Paris Hilton acolyte, allegedly worth $35 million, sits atop this TV tree. She’s the drawcard.
I’m made aware of this before our chat. I’m told her time is “precious” and I “need to think about how to get the best out of her”. On that front, I’m to steer clear of the 2007 sex tape she made with Ray J
and her first marriage to Damon Thomas.
“So, I’m staring at a photo of your new Ferrari,” I say of her recent $325,000 purchase. “Aren’t they a pig to drive in heels?” I’ve never driven one - let alone in heels - but Kim is already rattling off a response.
“I love cars. I’m like a guy that way. I feel like, once a year - Christmas, birthday - I can treat myself. I work really hard, so why not get something nice?” (It was neither Christmas nor her birthday, but who am I to judge?)
Teenage boys need not stake out Bondi’s open-air showers in the hope of seeing a repeat of the performance she and Hilton put on during their visit in 2006. This time, it’s a mature, married Kim who jets into town.
“Marriage has made me more reflective. It makes me want to chill out, spend time with my husband and take some time for myself.”
She’s speaking from the back of a car whisking her to an appearance in Philadelphia. She’ll then return to New York and, in the early hours of the morning, head to the Today studios, where it’s her turn to play co-host.
“I really like Australia,” she says unprompted. “It’s so calm and pretty, and the people are so nice. I’m excited to go back.
Changing tack again, she continues: “We love accessories and handbags. We wanted to make a line our fans could afford, instead of, you know, really expensive accessories,” she says of the sisters’ 67-piece range.
Would she prefer to be known as a designer as opposed to a reality TV star?
“That’s the core business and I’m not one to shy away from who we are. But I think we have a tad more to us than that.”
Ambition, for one?
“Absolutely. Our dad [Robert Kardashian, who died of cancer in 2003] had a really strong work ethic and taught us, you know, to take a job seriously and do our best. We take his work ethic into all our businesses.”
She’s also learnt to deal with the persistent tirade that alleges her marriage is on the rocks.
“It doesn’t piss me off, because I don’t care. If you’d asked me a few years ago, it would’ve made me very upset. I have thick skin now and I’m happy about that. I never thought I’d ever reach the point where I didn’t care.”
Kim doesn’t rule out a spin-off exploring married life, nor does she see the credits rolling on Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
“I don’t see the end near, but I think when it stops being fun, we’ll stop doing the show.”
And what of another baby Kardashian?
“I think we’re going to wait, like, a year.”
Guess we’ll discuss her breastfeeding next year then.