Kylie Jenner to face criminal investigation after faking billionaire status
Kylie Jenner could face a criminal investigation over alleged exaggerations of her company’s value, a top financial fraud attorney has revealed.
The cosmetics entrepreneur was kicked off the coveted Forbes Billionaire list by the wealth magazine on Friday in a shock move, after the outlet said financial filings with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) show she may have been lying about the success of her cosmetics company.
READ ALSO: Kylie reacts angrily as Forbes stripes her off ‘self-made’ billionaire title
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, internationally renowned lawyer Jan Handzlik, who served five years as a federal prosecutor in LA and now defends celebrities and big companies in financial fraud cases, said the alleged exaggerations could land Jenner in a world of legal trouble.
‘My guess is that at a minimum the SEC will begin what they call an informal inquiry and then perhaps elevate that to a formal investigation, which gives them subpoena power,’ Handzlik said.
He added: ‘In this matter you’ve got a mixture of things that may lead to both civil and criminal scrutiny early on: obviously the celebrity aspect, the large amount of the alleged exaggeration, and the highly public nature.
‘All of this is like catnip to a prosecutor or the SEC, because it will lead to very heavy coverage of what takes place.’
