Kris Humphries, Kim Kardashian's soon-to-be ex-husband, may be having the worst day ever.
Not only is Kardashian -- Humphries' wife of just 72 days -- reportedly filing for divorce Monday, but the free agent who was most recently a power forward for the New Jersey Nets also revealed that he lost thousands in a hedge fund scam. Humphries invested hundreds of thousands of dollars with Andrey Hicks' Locust Offshore Management, a fraudulent hedge fund that ultimately raised $1.6 million from investors like Humphries, Fin Alternatives reports.
A federal judge froze the assets of Hicks' fund last week, after accusing him of lying to investors about the existence of a fund in the British Virgin Islands, according to the Boston Business Journal. Hicks -- who was a guest at Humphries' and Kardashian's multi-million dollar wedding ceremony -- also claimed to be an alumnus of Harvard; in fact, he failed out of the prestigious school after three semesters.
Humphries isn't the first athlete to get hit by investment scams. Former Washington Redskin Art Monk fell victim to an investment scam run by his former teammate Terry Orr, according to U.S. News and World. Former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway was one of more than 60 investors swindled in a Denver-area hedge fund scheme, the Denver Post reports. Kirk Wright, an Atlanta-area hedge fund manager accused of scamming $150 million from clients including several NFL players, killed himself in his jail cell after being convicted of 47 counts of fraud and money laundering, according to The New York Times.
Scam artists have become so proficient at preying on athletes that NFL rookies had to undergo financial literacy courses as part of the league's annual rookie symposium last year, according to the Associated Press. The aim of the course is to help the players weed through the "inevitable 'sure thing' opportunities touted by friends and acquaintances," the AP reports.
But, non-athlete celebrities aren't immune to falling victim to investment scam artists. Famed director Steven Spielberg, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel and actor Kevin Bacon were all swindled by Bernie Maddoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme, according to Bankrate.com. Famed investment advisor Ken Starr -- whose client list included celebrities such as Uma Thurman and Martin Scorsese -- was arrested by IRS agents last year for investment fraud and tax fraud, among other charges, according to Gawker.
