Two years ago actor Duane Martin and his estranged wife actress Tisha Campbell were accused of trying to hide assets in their bankruptcy filing [click here if you missed that].
Now Duane's bestie Will Smith has been dragged into their drama...
From The Blast
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, the trustee presiding over Martin’s bankruptcy filed an amended lawsuit against the actor in which he reveals Will Smith and his companies have turned over financial records and emails between Will and Duane.
The trustee explains that Smith has turned over email chains between Smith, his rep, and Martin from 2018, where they discussed the $1.4 million loan that Will and Jada Pinkett Smith provided Duane several years ago to purchase the home in question, which is now the subject of a fraud lawsuit.
The trustee says the most compelling evidence of Martin’s alleged fraud can be seen in the emails between Martin and Smith and his reps. The trustee claims the emails show Martin “continued to put pressure on his friend WS to finance the transaction” while trying to get the loan in 2012. The docs also reveal Martin and Smith even had communications last year over Duane wanting to sell the home....
...The trustee alleged Duane set up Roxe LLC to allegedly conceal ownership of a 9,000 sq. ft. mansion in Chatsworth, California. Duane originally bought the home in 2006 for $900,000. He then borrowed $1.9 million for the purpose of constructing the “Martin family home.”
Duane then defaulted on his loan and negotiated a short sale with the bank, and he used Roxe to buy the home back from the bank using a $1.4 million loan from Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. Roxe LLC became the owner and Duane and Tisha allegedly entered into a lease with their own company to pay rent of $5,000 per month.
In early 2018, Duane listed the home for $2,695,000 with the intention of pocketing all of the sales proceeds in excess of the loan given by Will and Jada, meaning he would pocket $1.3 million if sold at asking price.
The trustee says the lease was a sham and Duane and Tisha didn’t make all the payments on the house.
