Skating on thin ice
An Olympic gold medal figure skater is suing his former money manager, claiming that the alleged flim-flam artist %u2013 a used car salesman, no less %u2013 had embezzled more than $1 million from his accounts.
According to court papers filed in Brooklyn Federal Court last week, Alexi Yagudin, who won with the Russian team in the 2002 Winter Olympics, had been introduced to Michael Goldin back in 2003.
Goldin quickly won over Yagudin and asked him to manage his bank accounts and other assets since ice skating took the athlete on tour across the globe.
Yagudin agreed, claiming he wanted someone else to manage his money so he “could devote all his attention to professional figure skating and not be burdened by mundane business considerations,” according to the suit.
Yet things went south pretty quickly.
Goldin allegedly diverted more than $1 million of Yagudin’s funds to pay for personal expenses such as real estate in Florida and a Mercedes-Benz sedan, the suit states.
Goldin vehemently denies the accusations and plans to counter-sue.
While he offered Yagudin financial advice, all of the investments were decided on by the skater, who did figure eights around his own misfortune, according to Yagudin’s attorney Robert Tolchin.
