CNBC’s American Greed covered Michael Scripps's story of family embezzlement.
He is a convicted criminal who is currently serving his prison time of 9 years.
Michael performed wired fraud worth $3.5 million against his mother and uncle. CNBC’s longest-running primetime original series, American Greed, featured the story in 2016 and 2021.
Who Is Michael Scripps? Wikipedia Bio Of The Family Fraudster
Michael Scripps is the heir of a family that once owned the Detroit News. He is about 45 years old since he was 36 in 2013.
Wikipedia is yet to feature him, but he is mostly famous as the one who conned his family for $3.5 million.
According to his biography, he holds an MBA degree and he was going to a New Orleans college in the 90s.
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Michale had estranged from his family in 2006. Reports suggest that he had married a new wife and was a father to an infant daughter at his trial.
Where Is Michael Scripps Today- Is He Still In Jail?
Michael Scripps is still serving his sentence in jail, which is about to complete. However, there hasn't been any news on his release.
He had been in police custody since April 2013. A jury convicted Scripps on seven counts of wire fraud, and on 15 July, U.S. District Judge Legrome D. Davis sentenced him to 9 years imprisonment and three years of supervised release.
His mother, Mellisa Scripps, was absent from the courtroom. He reportedly embezzled his mom and mentally disabled uncle for $3.6 million.
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In 2006, his mom noticed the thefts due to an unexplained withdrawal of $40 thousand from her brother's account. That incident led to the discovery of other transactions.
Merrill Lynch paid $5.3 million to settle the fraud but asked his mother to report the incident to the FBI. It led to the arrest. Likewise, his friend, who helped him, received a one-year prison sentence. Further, the court ordered the two to restitution of $3.6 million.
In March 2020. he appealed the denial of his motion for relief pursuant.
Michael Scripps Conned His Own Family- Mother And Uncle Sued Him
Michael Scripps' family were once the owners of newspapers, including the Detroit News and the Vineland (N.J.) Times-Journal.
His great-great-grandfather, James E. Scripps, was the half-brother of Edward Willis Scripps, the founder of the Evening News Association. They sold the media company in the 1980s for more than $700 million. Nonetheless, it is not related to E.W. Scripps Co.
Michael's mother, Melissa, inherited $11 million and took over her mildly autistic elder brother David's shares, which were more than her, according to her testimonial.
His attorney argued her fortune was about $100 million.
Michael thought that his mom was spending too much, usually on drugs and other luxuries. She spent over a million dollars on a family world cruise, two of Princess Diana's dresses, a Napoleonic tiara, and marijuana. Moreover, she has married four times.
Though he also had his six-figure trust fund and an additional $3,900 monthly allowance, it wasn't sufficient for him. Then, in 2002, he took his mom, uncle, and a friend to an Atlanta strip club.
After that, Michael blackmailed his mom with a photo of her and a dancer. Due to it, she moved the trust accounts to Merrill Lynch, where his college classmate Richard Duke Gleeson worked as a financial adviser.
Happy 147th birthday to The @detroitnews, first published #OTD in 1873 by James E. Scripps. Pictured here is the Albert Kahn-designed building it called home from 1917-2014. pic.twitter.com/IcPXPJMAuB
He made over 500 transfers to his bank account in three years, spending much of the conned amount on his ex-wife Anna and adult film star Jenna Bearden.
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