Shortly after Tupac Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa Shakur, alleged in a blockbuster lawsuit that trustee Tom Whalley had “embezzled millions” from her late mother’s estate, the music industry veteran slammed the claim as “offensive” “legally baseless.”
Whalley, who signed Tupac to Interscope and worked closely with the iconic rapper and his mom Afeni Shakur-Davis during their lifetimes, assured the court in a March filing that while it was true he had not yet produced a formal trust accounting to Sekyiwa following her mom’s death in 2016, an outside firm had already been hired to prepare one.
The executive who helped produce Tupac’s 2Pacalypse now, Thug Life?, and Me Against the World Also, it was admitted that while “substantial assets” originally belonging to the late rapper — including multiple cars, gold records, clothing and pin ball machines that Afeni inherited as the sole beneficiary of her son’s estate — had “yet to be distributed”Sekyiwa was granted the trust “absolute discretion”to keep the items and make the estate money. Many of these items ended up in the travelling. “Tupac Shakur: Wake Me When I’m Free”He stated that exhibits are now open at L.A. Live.
“Now that the exhibit is up and running,” Whalley told the court, distribution of the estate’s remaining tangible personal property would start flowing to Sekyiwa. Whalley was ordered by a judge to provide a complete accounting of the trust before June 30, despite his assurances.
Sekyiwa’s lawyers and Sekyiwa filed Monday, stating that the accounting had been filed as per order. “falls woefully short of compliance with the legal and accounting requirements of the trust.”They claimed that Whalley provided only figures. “very general categories”Listing jewelry valued at $217,000.00 without a catalog, is one example of an asset.
“Either (Whalley) lacks the capacity or the will to properly account to petitioners, or else he has something to hide,” Sekyiwa’s lawyers wrote.
The alleged lack of transparency being called “a” “hide and control strategy,”Sekyiwa asked her lawyers to ask the court Monday to appoint a new judge “independent”CPA to audit trust and provide detailed accounting of assets. That would include Amaru Entertainment, the record label started by Afeni that controls much of Tupac’s music and intellectual property. The trust owns Amaru, but Whalley is the paid boss.
Sekyiwa and her lawyers say they want to know how much Whalley pays himself through Amaru – and how much he has received to date. While Whalley does not take a fee for acting as estate trustee, he allegedly receives a 20 percent commission at Amaru, Sekyiwa’s filings claim. She and her lawyers are unsure if such a commission is justified.
“When Afeni was alive, she got to make the choices. Now the only one getting to make choices is Mr. Whalley. There’s a specific provision in the trust that we cite that says the conflict of interest, which is obvious, is waived so long as the compensation that he receives is basically commercially reasonable. This is a different situation from when Afeni was alive and directing things, setting the goals,” Sekyiwa’s lawyer Donald David tells Rolling Stone. “We aren’t even sure what he’s receiving. We have nothing that makes us comfortable that Mr. Whalley has accurately disclosed the compensation he’s receiving or that it’s proper compensation pursuant to the terms of California law and the trust.”
Meanwhile, sources confirm to Rolling StoneIt is a matter of “Wake Me When I’m Free,” Whalley doesn’t receive a cut. “It all goes to Amaru,” sources tellRolling Stone.
Amaru is wholly owned by The Afeni Shakur Trust, and Sekyiwa’s lawsuit amounts to the beneficiaries of the trust asking the court to give them access to information Whalley controls, David says. In Sekyiwa’s underlying lawsuit, she alleged that Whalley has received $5.5 million over the past five years from Amaru, a figure she considers “well in excess of what would be reasonably necessary to retain a properly qualified third-party to perform such services.”
Whalley’s representative declined to comment Tuesday. Rolling Stoneaccording to his filings in this case. Whalley stated in his March paperwork that his track record at Amaru speaks volumes.
“Over the last five years, Amaru has increased in value by tens of millions of dollars as a direct result of Tom’s sound judgment and business acumen,”His files state.
Whalley’s lawyers point to their client’s efforts to “preserve, protect and exploit Tupac’s name, likeness, and intellectual property for the Trust and its beneficiaries,” such as his work monetizing the use of Tupac’s name and likeness in national campaigns, winning back ownership of the “Thug Life”trademark and regaining copyrights, master recordings, footage and other material from a bankrupt Death Row Records and Universal Music.
Whalley asserts that the immersive exhibit was an idea Afeni had in her lifetime and that Whalley made it a reality. He also highlights his work halting auctions of Tupac’s memorabilia and “recapturing”The items for Amaru as well as the trust.
But Sekyiwa’s lawyer says Tupac’s only sister has her own vision for their family legacy. “She has repeatedly told me that she wants to show the world who her brother and mother truly were, and what it was they truly were putting forward as values,”Donald David stated that his client hadn’t seen the pop-up exhibit.
The Monday filing by the sister and her attorneys stated that transparency and a place at the table were long overdue.
“(Whalley) has intentionally refused to properly account to the beneficiaries for nearly six years, and even after being ordered to provide a compliant accounting by this court, he has refused again. Instead, he and his advisors have renewed their commitment to a years-long pattern of detrimental conduct by withholding critical information and refusing to properly account in accordance with the trust, California law and his own fiduciary duties,”The 31-page document was filed by Rolling Stone says.
Aug. 10 is the date for the hearing in trust battle