Calvin Klein model Maggie Rizer has filed a $24 million lawsuit in Manhattan's state Supreme Court against her imprisoned stepfather saying that he has wasted her fortune.
John R. Breen Jr. was found guilty for grand larceny, fraud and forgery in October 2004 and was sentenced to four years in jail.
After Rizer became a celebrity, she asked her mother, Maureen Breen, and stepfather, the owner of an insurance agency and the treasurer of a private business group, to manage her finances to avoid professional management fees.
Being Rizer’s business manager and given power of attorney, Breen stole from his daughter as much as $7 millions, according to prosecutors.
"Breen was spiraling downward as an alcohol abuser and gambler who stooped to stealing from his own family to cover his losses," Maggie Rizer's lawyer Edward W. Hayes wrote in the lawsuit, reports USA Today.
The lawsuit claims that Breen wrote over 250 fraudulent checks to himself and used over $3,5 million for his gambling needs and seeks $3 million from him personally, over $3 million from some individuals and businesses that dealt with him between 1999 and 2002, and $17.9 million in punitive damages.
27-year-old Maggie Rizer began her career at 21 and has since become one of the world’s highest-paid models.