X Factor star Rebecca Ferguson ripped off by woman she thought was a friend

Classic FM VE Day - London
Classic FM VE Day - London



Rebecca Ferguson, who shot to fame after appearing on the X Factor, has been tricked out of £43,000 by a woman she thought of as a friend. The 28-year-old singer was in court last month to see Rachel Taylor jailed for 16 months - after admitting two counts of fraud. Now she has told The Mirror that while getting justice was important, it was just part of the recovery process.

Taylor befriended the singer in 2012 after she split from her management company. She claimed to be a qualified accountant, so Ferguson trusted her to look after her finances. She used the opportunity to steal £43,000.

Taylor even took money that was meant to be the start of a trust fund for one of her children. She said: "I opened myself up to people I thought really cared about me and, when I look back, I realise I was naive, trusting and young."

She said it would take time to get over the betrayal, but that the guilty verdict helped.
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Celebrity victims

Sadly, there are a number of celebrities who have been targeted by people who claimed to be working for them, but were really feathering their own nest. One of the most high profile was showbusiness accountant Keith Moore, who was jailed for six years in 1995 for stealing £6 million from Sting. He had been his adviser for 15 years and during that time he lost £4.8 million in a series of investments Sting knew nothing about.

In 2012 Lenard Cohen's ex-manager was sentenced to 18 months in jail for stealing from him and then harassing him. Kelley Lynch had been his manager for 17 years - during which time she stole millions of dollars from him. In 2006 a court ordered her to repay $9.4 million, but by then she had already started calling him several times a day and hurling abuse at him.

Last year a disgraced Los Angeles showbiz agent Peter Strain admitted stealing $500,000 from actors including John Doman (best known for his role in The Wire) by lying to them about their payments. He was sentenced to six months of home confinement and 500 hours of community service.

There were also a number of famous victims of Bernie Madoff's notorious Ponzi investment scheme. They included Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, Steven Spielberg and Zsa Zsa Gabor.

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How Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick Survived Bernie Madoff's Ponzi Scheme
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