20 January 2023 , 21:53
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Stephen Belafonte could face a jury after US singer and social media star Malu Trevejo filed a lawsuit to sue the former husband of Melanie Brown.
The 20-year-old claims that Belafonte, 47, conned her into signing him as her exclusive manager after claiming to be a licensed talent agent.
Malu claims that she had naively signed the contract with Mr Belafonte which she now regrets but has stated she suffered from emotional distress in court documents obtained by The Mirror.
The civil lawsuit describes Belafonte as an "unscrupulous male hoaxer" who preyed on a young girl in a "domineering fashion" before "taking control of her life and income".
Malu Trevejo has filed a lawsuit against Stephen Belafonte (Taylor Hill/WireImage)
Stephen Belafonte has been described in court documents as an "unscrupulous male hoaxer" (2021 David M. Benett)Belafonte is caused of "emotional abuse" and "taking control" of Malu's life before allowing others to "steal from her" as well as "defrauding" the star and using her as his own personal piggy bank.
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The documents also claim Stephen took out a lease on a home in Beverly Hills, California, before later telling the singer the property was on lease for several months. Although this later turned out to be a year-long lease.
It's also alleged that Belafonte's handling of Malu's finances left her suffering stress and worry before he made a plan for a "friend of his" to loan her $400,000 after he told her she was too young for a bank loan.
Malu alleges that Mr Belafonte used her earnings for his private life (Internet Unknown)
Mr. Belafonte, the former husband of Melanie Brown has denied all allegations against him (WireImage)However, she repaid the loan with a costly sum of $150,000 in interest just two months after the said loan was taken out.
Malu states that she is entitled to damages from Stephen for the rent on the Beverly Hills property, all amounts charged to Malu for his and others' personal fun and expenses, missing funds due to misappropriation as well as the usurious loan and interest which was charged.
She is suing Belafonte for Intentional fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, conspiracy, aiding and abetting theft and misappropriation, return of usurious interest and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The star who boasts over 11 million followers on Instagram and 25.5 million on TikTok is also demanding a jury trial.
When approached for comment, Belafonte refused, but a lawyer for him claimed that Malu's allegations are not true.