Tupac’s Sister Claims a Music Executive Embezzled Millions of Dollars from the Rapper’s Estate
It has been nearly 26 years since Tupac died, yet there is still some debate over his estate. Sekyiwa Shakur, Tupac’s sister, and Tom Whalley, the trustee of the rapper’s estate, have been at odds for a long time, and the battle escalated on Monday.
According to Sekyiwa, Whalley has not been transparent about Tupac’s estate and has a “false sense of entitlement.” In January, Sekyiwa and The Tupac Shakur Foundation filed a lawsuit alleging Whalley embezzled millions of dollars from Afeni Shakur-Davis’ trust. According to Billboard, Whalley has not complied with the judge’s request to show an accounting report that demonstrates his pattern of hiding information.
How did this guy become Tupac’s trustee?
Afeni, the rapper’s mother, was named the beneficiary of his estate after he was tragically shot and killed in 1996. When she died in 2016 at the age of 69 after going into cardiac arrest, Whalley, who was a close friend to the iconic rapper and signed him to Interscope Records, was named as the trustee of the Afeni Shakur-Davis Separate Property Trust, according to Billboard.
As part of her lawsuit, Sekyiwa alleges that Whalley violated his duty as trustee by not handing her sentimental items over. According to the trust’s attorney, Howard King, Whalley was hired by Afeni before she died to manage Amaru Entertainment.
More from Billboard:
The lawyers for Sekyiwa (longtime music lawyer Londell McMillan and litigators Donald David and Joshua R. Mandell from the law firm Akerman) said Whalley had fallen short of the judge’s request. As an example, they said the report lacked supporting documentation to verify the numbers listed, like key tax documents filed with the IRS.
“Respondent could very easily have provided these documents in support of his accounting, but has refused to produce any,” Sekyiwa’s lawyers wrote. “Respondent has chosen to keep his actions and the status of the assets in the Trust and Amaru in the dark, rather than allow reasonable review and comment.”
