The former business manager of Grammy Award-winning singer Alanis Morissette has admitted to embezzling close to $7 million from his clients and will enter a guilty plea to federal charges. Jonathan Todd Schwartz, 48, and a native of Los Angeles has been charged with wire fraud and filing a false tax return after he failed to report the embezzled funds.
Schwartz admitted to stealing close to $5 million for Morissette between May 2010 and January 2014. The disgraced manager claims he used the money for his own personal expenses and covered up his crime by listing the cash withdrawals as "sundry/personal expenses." Prosecutors said Schwartz lied when he was first confronted about the crime saying he had used the money to fund an illegal marijuana business.
Schwartz's lawyer, Nathan Hochman, said his client was fully cooperative with the investigation and admitted responsibility for his actions. According to a report from BBC, Schwartz managed the singer's finances from 2009 to 2016. He was responsible managing her accounts, paying bills on her behalf, and collecting revenue, according to the Hollywood Reporter. He also admitted to stealing more than $2 million from other clients, who have not been named.
Last year, the "Ironic" singer sued Schwartz and his company GSO for $15 million in damages, claiming that her former manager had transferred some of her money into his own account without her permission. By pleading guilty to the charges filed against him, Schwartz can get a sentence of four to six years, but there is a chance he could face up to 23 years in prison.
Alanis only found out about Schwartz's deeds when she hired a new business manager to replace him. Howard Grossman, Schwartz's successor, noticed plenty of sizeable discrepancies in the singer's account. Schwartz is currently scheduled to appear in court on February 1, 2017.
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