Tupac’s sister accuses executor of mother’s estate of “embezzling millions”

Sekyiwa Shakur, sister of the late Tupac, is suing the executor of her mother’s estate, accusing him of “embezzling millions”.

The estate is largely made up of funds left by Tupac himself after his death in September 1996, and Shakur alleges that executor Tom Whalley is using the money as “a piggy bank” to make himself richer.

In a lawsuit filed this week (January 10) in a Los Angeles court, Sekyiwa, along with The Tupac Shakur Foundation, have sued Whalley for “blatant violations” of his duties as executor of the estate of Afeni Shakur-Davis, the mother of Sekyiwa and Tupac.

The suit said: “He has effectively embezzled millions of dollars for his own benefit. Whalley has unreasonably enriched himself at the expense of the beneficiaries and in bad faith by taking excessive compensation in a position from which he should properly be barred based on the inherent conflict of interest.”

The lawsuit adds that royalties from Tupac’s music is the “principal income-producing asset of the Trust,” which transferred to Afeni after Tupac’s death, and to Whalley after her death in 2016.

“Whalley has already received more than $5.5 million that he has paid himself in the last five years through Amaru,” Sekyiwa added in the suit, claiming that Whalley made himself the manager of Amaru Entertainment, Tupac’s record label and the company making a large amount of the money for the Trust.

Elsewhere in the suit, Whalley is accused of withholding personal property inherited by Afeni from Tupac, including cars, gold records and jewellery.

It read: “It is clear that he has used and abused his powers as executor and special trustee of the estate and the trust to convert the personal property belonging to Sekyiwa as a piggy bank from which he has drawn substantial funds for his own benefit.”

Whalley’s lawyer Howard King has denied the allegations in a statement, saying: “These legal claims are disappointing and detrimental to all beneficiaries of the trust.

“We are confident the court will promptly conclude that Tom has always acted in the best interests of Amaru, the trust, and all beneficiaries.”