Whether it’s refining your business model, mastering new technologies, or discovering strategies to capitalize on the next market surge, Inman Connect New York will prepare you to take bold steps forward. The Next Chapter is about to begin. Be part of it. Join us and thousands of real estate leaders Jan. 22-24, 2025.
Spelling Manor appears to be the latest high-profile luxury home to have been targeted by scammers in recent months, as two individuals going by the names of Mirga Phipps White and Nicholas Phipps White have executed a fraudulent deed on the property, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
According to the owner of the 120-room mansion, 594 Mapleton LLC, the two scammers recorded the fake deed with Los Angeles County in June 2024.
TAKE THE INMAN INTEL INDEX SURVEY FOR SEPTEMBER
That move has proved to be extremely inconvenient, as Spelling Manor also happens to be on the market for $137.5 million, and has an interested buyer in none other than former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, according to The WSJ. Drew Fenton of Carolwood Estates is representing the listing.
Now the case is being worked out through the court system as 594 Mapleton LLC attempts to right the deed in order to sell the home.
Meanwhile, the Whites have made their own somewhat far-fetched and, at times, convoluted claims that Spelling Manor was fraudulently purchased with money that had been stolen from them by The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Erika Girardi and her ex-husband, the disgraced former attorney Thomas Girardi.
Thomas Girardi was found guilty of embezzling more than $15 million from his firm’s clients in August 2024.
Benjamin Wagner of Gibson Dunn, who is representing 594 Mapleton LLC, said that the White’s legal arguments have comprised “bizarre conspiracy stuff,” and in addition to the Girardis, have included allegations about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, former president Donald Trump and former treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The case has gone public just about one month after a Missouri woman was charged with fraud in a scheme to take ownership of Elvis’ Graceland through a foreclosure auction that was nearly prompted by false claims that Lisa Marie Presley had put the home up as collateral on a loan she didn’t repay before passing away in 2023.
The auction was halted after Lisa Marie Presley’s daughter, actor Danielle Riley Keough, said the loan was a sham, and sued to retain ownership of the property, which she inherited after her mother’s death. The Missouri woman, Lisa Jeanine Findley, had pretended to be three different individuals working at a fake private lender.
Of the claim to Spelling Manor, Mirga Phipps White told The WSJ, “We’re not the problem. They are the problem,” referring to 594 Mapleton LLC.
Title fraud and seller impersonation has risen significantly in the U.S. in recent years, partially due to changes in technology, according to Sarah Frano, vice president and real-estate fraud expert at First American Title Insurance Company.
The American Land Title Association said that in 2023, 28 percent of title insurance companies had at least one seller-impersonation fraud attempt.
New AI and online tools have also aided fraudsters in forging documents or identities and notary stamps, attorney David Fleck told The WSJ. Since most documents can also be filed online, fraudsters can submit the paperwork without having to meet with anyone face-to-face. Luxury buyers in LA also often purchase in cash, which means there’s one less entity that might catch a fraudster in the act. Once a scammer is able to obtain a deed, they might then try to take out a mortgage on the home themselves, sell it or rent it out.
Once the damage is done, the owner is responsible for taking the case to court to have the fake deed removed, which can take months or even years, Fleck said.
Spelling Manor was build around 1990 by late television producer Aaron Spelling and his wife, theater producer and philanthropist Candy Spelling.
In 2009, Candy listed the property for $150 million. By 2011, Petra Ecclestone, daughter of British billionaire Bernie Ecclestone, purchased the home for $85 million and completed a huge renovation of the property.
594 Mapleton LLC bought the home from Ecclestone for about $120 million in 2019. Some agents in the past have said that the LLC was associated with a Saudi billionaire.
Three years later, the estate was listed again for $165 million. But just a few months later, Nicholas Phipps White sued Anywhere Real Estate, which is parent company of escrow firm West Coast Escrow, for a maze-like scheme involving the Girardis, and more.
Mr. White claimed that he sold a real estate project to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund in 2016 for $12.7 billion, however, those funds were allegedly misappropriated by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin. White goes on to claim that the government settled with him for $27.8 billion, but Thomas Girardi, who was allegedly serving as the government’s attorney, stole the funds and used some of the money to buy Spelling Manor. Therefore, according to Mr. White, the property rightfully belongs to him.
The judge called Mr. White’s claims “fantastical” and has dismissed his lawsuit. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, Trump and Mnuchin did not respond to requests from The WSJ for comment. The Girardis could not be reached.
In addition to Mr. White’s claims in the lawsuit, Mirga Phipps White made additional, seemingly unrelated and wild claims when contacted by The WSJ. Ms. White said an attorney for 594 Mapleton LLC had advance knowledge of an assassination attempt on former president Trump, and copied Trump’s son, Eric Trump, on email correspondence with The WSJ. The attorney denied any advance knowledge of the assassination attempt.
This is also not the first time the Whites have been involved in a dispute of a luxury property.
A lawsuit from earlier this year alleges that the Whites filed fraudulent title documents on a $55 million estate in Newport Beach, California. The property’s owner, U.S. No. 8 LLC, claimed that the pair attempted to get into the property, but the police were called and injunction was granted to prevent them from entering the mansion. That case is still pending.
“The fact that the Whites are simultaneously claiming ownership of two luxury homes worth almost $200 million while apparently operating their no-asset real estate ventures out of a Post Office Box in Beverly Hills demonstrates the fraudulent absurdity of their claims,” plaintiff’s attorneys said in a legal filing in the Newport Beach case.
Get Inman’s Luxury Lens Newsletter delivered right to your inbox. A weekly deep dive into the biggest news in the world of high-end real estate delivered every Friday. Click here to subscribe.
Email Lillian Dickerson
Credit: Source link
