illffiJlillilllililllllil[lt]

l

: n Octobe2r7 ,2002a, p rivateje t carryinJga y-Zan dB eyon- partrer Richard Ford (akaSkane), andJasmine cds atm otionlessnt her unwaayt T eterborAoi rporitn N ew Young:Trinidad, a former DefJam execa nd Jersewy aitingfo rG abrielSem itha, financiaald visewr hose managero fDMX's Bloodline label. Young- Trinidad allegest hat Smith stole president promotion $r5o,ooo boyfriendM, ichaeKl ysetrh, env ice of from her and even createda fictitious mon- atD efJ amw, asa mongth oseo nboardS.h ew asr unningh ours ey market account called A*T Financial to behinda,n dt heh olduwp asth reateningmtoa keJ ayla tefo r cover her tracks." Gabriele got comfortable a majora ppearancaet T DB ankNortGha rdenS.m ithw as- with her lifestyle,"Y oung{rinidad saysa ngri- ly, "and money." n'tr eallye xpectingthetoms ticka roundfo rh ere, specialslyin ces hea ndK yser then stole everyone's Smith maintains that she is not guilty hada rguedh eatedtlyh atd aya bouht erc hronilca tenes"sS. ow henI pulled ofthese accusations,a nd, further, that she upa nds awt hej et wass tillt hereI, knews omethinwga ss trange,s"h es ays. wasm erelya "facep erson" for Premier,n ot // lnfact,s hew asa bouto haveth em osti ncredibleev eninogf herl ife.J ust involved in the company's day-to-dayo per- asJ ay'sh owg otu ndewr ayi nB ostonS,m ith3, 6,r ecallsK,y sepru lledh era side ations. "It looks like I had a lot more to do with the company than I actually did," she backstag'etl. n eedto talkt o you,"h es aids, milinga, ndt henh ed roppedto says." It's unfortunate, and it's something onek neeA. sh ep oppetdh eq uestion5,'m ithb rokein tot earsT. hey'bde end at- I really want to apologize to the victims ings inceth em id-'90sa,n ds heh adl ongp rayefdo rt hism oment. for." Smith's longtime friend Mark Pitts, who comanagedt he Notorious B.I.G. and is now a senior vice president with the Zom- Smith croakedo ut a "Yes.J" ustt hen,J ay Jam president Kevin Liles, claiming she had ba Label Group, comparesh er predicament lookedo vert o Kyserf rom centers tagea nd bilked them out of millions of dollars to parentsw ho areh eld legallyr esponsible silendymouthed"k, itdone?"K ysernodded. through her financial servicesc ompany, Pre- for the actions oftheir children. "Gabriele "My friendM ikej ustproposedto his girl- mier BusinessM anagement. put way too much in someone else's friend,G aby!"Jaya nnouncedto theB oston Smith is now facingotherlawsuits asw ell. hands," he says,a dding, "it's not in her

"lt lookslike I hada lotmore to dowith the company than I actuallydid. lt's unfortunate,and it's something I really want to apologizeto thevictims for." crowd. "Everybody say congratulations! 'rW'eallege that Gabriele convinced my clients charactetro steal." Mike, come on out here." Kyserv entured she could manageb usinessa ffairs,b ut then Priorto the lawsuitsi,n Januaryz oo3,fed- over, nervously picked up the mic, and start- engagedi n fraud and outright theft," says eral agentsr aided Smith's firm's 38th Street ed improvising a songthat began," I love you, attomeyJohn T. McGuire, who, at presst ime, officesi n Manhattan asp art ofawider search I love you..." as Smith remained in the is representingDJC lue, DesertS torm Records for evidence connecting DefJam's The Inc. wings, in total shock. "Beyonc6'sp ushing iiai:t:: me, 'Go out there, go out there,"' Smith li remembers.A s she inched herway onstage, Jaylaunchedinto "'o3 Bonnie & Clyde."And then, to top it off, asJayr appedt he chorus- All I nudin thislfe ofsinis mt andry girniend- multicolored balloons floated down into the arena." It waso ne of the best nights of my life," Smith says. Itwas alsot he final peakofgood fortune in a life that wasa bout to plunge into a spec- tacular freefall. Justmonths later,i n mid zoo3, Smithwas hitwith the firstofthree lawsuitsf iled in New Yorkbvorominent clientss ucha sf ormerDef

CANY OUS AYt rCHEESE'? 5mithf lashesd smilea t a VMAa fter:partyi n August 2002w itht henD efJ amp rez KevinL iles.

156 UIBO Iabel to Qreens drug kingpin Kenneth "Supreme'McGriff,In the su mmer of zooz, CAUGHTUP IFYOU'RE PICKING AN ALL-STAR SCAM SQUAD, DON'T LEAVE OFF BIG-SPEND- Smith had takeno n McGriffas a client and INGBROKER CALVIN R. DARDENJR., WHO'S DOING FOUR TO 12 YEARS IN THE helped him setu p financial accounts for his BIGHOUSE FOR HUSTLING CELEBS LIKE NELLY AND LATRELL SPREWELL. film production company, Picture Perfect Films. McGriff was then working on a ln oneb reathd, isgracemd onevm anageCr alvinR ,D ardenJ r,t hinks straight-to-DVD movie called Cime Pmtnas hisb idw ilta llowh imt 0 reflec0t nt hee rrors0 f a high"rollinlgif estyle g7 and had secureda $r million deal with Def thatd roveh imt o scam millionfr omb rokeragheo useas nd celebritvc lientsH. e'sa lsog ott o figureo ut howt b makem oret han Jam to distribute its soundtrack $0m illionin restitution. After the raids, the feds charged that Buti n the nextb reathD, afden3, 1,i sf ocusinogn t hed ayh e'llb e McGriffhad funneled drug money through freea gain-andta lkinga st houghit willb es oon. Picture Perfecta nd through side companies "l'm lookingfo rwardt o startingo vef,p uttingd ealsto gether createdb y The Inc.'s Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo. again,s" aysD ardenin ane xclusivtee le$honien ierviewfr omN ew Y0rk'sR ikersls landp risona, fewd aysa fterh isN ovembelgr , 2005, And,.in a sealedi ndictment, the govemment sentencin0gn f irsta nds econd egreeg randl arcenya nds chemeto defraudc harges.'"smc any charged Smith with "engaging in financial peoples tillw antm et o do it. we'veg ot plansI. d0n'tw antt o speako no iherb usinesvse ntufes; transactions with criminally derived prop- butt heya ret here.'M0nUmentthainl gs." erty." She faced the prospect of, a long, Talkl iket hati sw hatg otD ardenin tot foublei n thef irstp laceH. ew rangledm illionso f dollars in hiringb onusefsr om expensive trial and a possible three-year smithB arneyw, achoviati nanciasl ervicesa,n dm utuafl undg iantA lc by falsifyingh isp ositions heeta ndp romisin(ga ndf ailingt)o deliver prison term. to spoftsa nds howbiszt arsA. t onep oint,D ardenfa lselyc laimedh er nanageidn vestmenftosr clientsli kes haquilleo 'Neal, That wase nough to convince her to help AngelaE assetat,n dS amueLl .J acksonH.e a lsof 0det hes terlingre putationo f hisf atherC, alvin prosecutorsd evelop their casea gainstt he Darden5 r.,o neo f Forfunem agazine"'Ms ostp owerfuBl lackE xecutiveins A merica,w" hob egan Lorenzo brothers,I rv and Chris, who were ont hel oadingd ocksa t UPSa ndr ecentlyre tireda ss eniorv icep residenotf itsU ,So. Ferations. Buty oungD aiden'asc tuasl alesw erep altry, indicted for money laundering, among oth- andt hef ewc elebritiehse d ida ttra[tt endedto sufferf or it. Nellyis s uingD ardent0 recove$r 950,000th atw ass upposetdo haveb eeni nvested er charges,i nJanuary zoos (and acquitted in reale statein vestmentrtu stss. prewelhl ass aidh egaveD afden$ 300,000to invesat ndw as n months later). "I'm not cut out for jail," nevere paid. Smith sayso f her decision to cooperatei n InsteadD,a rdesnp enat lmosat llt hem oneyo nh imselHf. eb oughat multirnillion-dollar exchangef or the.prospecto fleniency. (A mansionin Glenc ove,N .y.a, nda ppointedit lavishly-includinag 9 200,000s harka quariuma nda movieth eater. spokespersonf or the U.S. Attorney's office $170,000 Her eportedlcyh argedm oret han9 i66,000o n hisA rhericaEn xoress centurionc ardi n onem ontha loneH. es tockedh isg aragew ithl uxuryc ars,in cludinag porsche, declinedt o.commento n the case.) Mercedeas,n dL amborghinMi urcidlago. The fedsw erea ctuallypretty good to her, Dardenk nowsh owb adt hisl ooksb, uth ei nsiststh atp eoplea reg ettingh ima llw rong. she says,e ven offerirtg help in resolving her "l didn'tw akeu po ned aya ndd ecideto losem ym inda ndt akem oney,h" es ays".l definitely own legal problems. "The govefnment was hada plant o makeit work,w antingto makeit right.I hada plant o makef ull restitutionin two yearsb, utt heyd idn'tw ant = telling me, 'Stop, don't try and do this on that.W hat heyw antedw asf or met o got ojail,b ecausteh evw ere embarrasseSdo.I ami nj ail.B uti 'llb eh omes oon," your own,"' Smith says." 'You need us, we Whileh ea waitsth atd ay,D ardenis n'tc omplaininagb outh isl ifeb ehindb ars. 3 need you, let's work on this together.' It "lt soundsc razvb, uti t'sa goode xperience*definitehluym blingb,u tg ood,"h em aintains. wound up being a marriage ofsorts." "Everybokdnyo wws hoI arnE. vervbotdrey atsm eg reat"" DaveWielenga = SMITH'ST EGALE NTAilctEMENTSru dely intemrpted a storiedc areerin the music buii: t ness,w hich begani n r99o when shes cored 3 an internshipa t Washington,D .C., urban radio stationW PGC during her seniory ear at the Universiry of Maryland. Shew as so excitedbythej ob thatsheabandoneda plan to major in finance,m oving to NewYork to takea low-levelAtRposition atJive.T hanks = to hermagneticp ersonalityandb usinessa iu- men, Smith moved up quickly. lnrggz,she was recruired by DefJam to work in A&R" 6 andinry94,was appointed A&R director at ; Tommy Boy. The lofty position meant lots ofperks,a nd Smith admitst hat shee njoyed = the high life. So when the label did not renew her contract in t9g6, she had to confront unemployment andthe loss of a lifestyle. "I had tcir eevaluatem y life," shes ays." I went

vtBo 157 from having a lot to...." Hervoice trailso ff. DVD film CrimeP qrtners,a nd they sought room and took hisphysical." Smith did find Seeking more stability, Smith began help settingu p bankinga ccountsa nd get- a spot for McGriff's weapon, she says," in studying for the Series7 SecuritiesL icensing ting their personal finances in order. "I the drop ceiling above my desk." Examination-required to work as a securi- signedt hem up that day," Smith says.N oth- In the weeks after the gun-stashing ties broker, tradingstocksa nd bonds-and ing seemedu nusual about the trio-"They episode,m ore ominous signsa bout Picture the followingyear, shee arnedh ercredentials were nice guysw ho had corne into this great Perfecte merged: Smith saysR agin began and attracted offers from financial power- opportuniry" she says-but shew ondered sellinge xpensives, tainless-steealp pliances housesl ike Morgan Stanley,w here sheb egan why McGriff (who everybody called from home improvement chainst o some of asa financial advisera nd worked herway up "Preme") was barred from being listed on her clients. (Ragin, an actor, would later be to associatev ice president.I n zoor, Smith any ofthe accounts. convicted in a credit card scam; he testified wasn amed a vice presidento f investments Thatfall, Smith begant o understandwhy at the Lorenzo brothers' trial that McGriff at Prudential. Her'Wall Street careerw as he wasa n invisible partner: Friends told her had orderedt he zooo shooting of5o Cent.) goingwell. of his r98osh eyday running the multimil- And, in Decemberz ooz, McGriffwas sen- Before long, however, Smith found her- lion-dollar crack-dealingS upreme Team in tencedt o prison for weaponsp ossession. selfin someh otwater. Ormaybe, shej umped SoutheastQ reens. Still, Smith shruggedi t "\Vhy are you still carrying a gun?" Smith in on her own. lfhile shew as at Prudential, off: "I wasu nder the impressiont hat, here recalls asking McGriff at one point. Smith sayss hes tartedh er own firm on the we arei n zoo2,a nd he hasa dealc oming fiom "'Becauseo fmy stature and notoriety from side, in direct violation of company policy. peopleI know and trust at DefJam.T his must the r98os."' she remembersh im saying,

Smithtried to finda spaceto hideSupreme's gun while he went into a conferenrcoeo mA. nds hed id-inth ed ropc eiiinagb ovhee rd esk.

Srnith deniess heb roke any rules and says all be in the past."H er doubts aboutMcGriff "'some ofthe younger kids would get stripes she and Prudential had r"mutual under- were inflamed by an incident just before he for doing somethingt o Supreme."' standing" that her job there was "only a was to meet with a life insurancer ep. Looking back,s hes ays,t here werep lenty meanst o an end." Nonethelessi,n October "supremep ulled me asidea nd said,' Listen, of things "that should have set off alarms." zoor, Smith left Prudentialt o focus on a bou- I needt o speakto you in your office,"'Smith And shea dmits.thatb y late zooz, shew asn't tique financial servicesf irm she named Pre- says.r Mhen they stepped inside, he quickly closely monitoring the accounts of Premier mier BusinessM anagement. said, "I got to hide this gun first before I go clientsb ecauses hea nd Kyserwereb usy plan- By the following spring, working out of into the conferencer oom." Smith's instinct ning their wedding, which was set to take an office rented from famed entertainment was to be helpful, but this wasp retty awk- placei n Long Island on August t6, zoo3.lt lawyer L. Londell McMillan, Smith had ward stuff. "I'm trying to seemu nfazed," she was to be an occasion every bit ast heatrical begun exploiting.her music businessc on- remembers." I tried to find a spacet o hide asK yser'sp roposal at TD BankNorth Gar- nections, landing Premier such clients as his gun while he went into the conference den: Kelly Pricea nd Beyonc6w eret o per- Fabolous,D J Clue, Kevin Liles,a nd Kanye 'West.Y et the account shew asg unning for- The Inc.-eluded her, since the Lorenzos were loyal to their in-house accountant (who, ironically, ended up ast he only staffer convicted by the feds).B ut one day in sum- mer 2oo2, Smith got the call she had been waiting for. "Chris saidt hey did a sound- track deal, and that they wanted me to han- dle the account," Srnith recalls. The following daR three men-Wayne Davis,Jon Ragin,a nd Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff-came to Smith'so ffice.T heircom- pany, Picture Perfect,h ad struck a sound- track deal with DefJam for their straight-to- = g II{ BETTERD AYS: = smitht ex-fian€6M, ichael Kyserh, asa laughw ith qJ clue,o neo f severailn dustry figuresw hop lanst o sue.

158 vIEe form, the bride was to be styled by June ONEF At[ DAYl N 2OO5,m ore than two and to call Kevin Liles to the stand to rebut Ambrose, and Kyserwast alkingto Reverend a half yearsa fter the raid at Premier,S mith Smith,h ad shet estified. Run about officiating. "In that period," Smith frets considerably at her upstate New York Smith's concems about hermedia image saySo fthe latter part of zooz,"the most mon- home as she awaits the start ofThe Inc. tri. are trumped by her need to resolvet he eywass tolenf rom the clients'a ccounts"-not al. The sparselyfumishedhousei s beautiful- pending lawsuitsa nd her wish to patch by her,s her eiteratesb, utby employees,n one lysituated on a hilltop sunounded byathick- things up with the Lorenzos. Since she nev- ofwhom have been chargedw ith a crime. et oftrees where deero ften gather." This trial er was called to testiry at their trial, she's YetS mith kepta l id on hera pprehensions coming up is bittersweetf or me," Smith says. hopeful they'll understand the predicament aboutMcGriffand herbusinessu ntil the end "It's bitter in that I don't want to testifr shef aceda nd forgive her.A nd shef eelsh er ofzooz, when she and Kysdr vacationed in againsta nyone, however,i t's sweeti n that cooperation with federal prosecutorsw ill St. Bart's withJay-Z andBeyonc6. It should it's the ending of a long, life-changing peri- help her out ofher own legal jams, and that, have been a fabulous time-Jay flew his pri- od for me." Smith doesn't look anything like with their assistances,h e may somedayb e vate chef down, and they were invited to a the blingy networker she once was. Simply able to prove "that someone else was New Year'sp arty hosted by Mariah Carey- dressedin a blacksweatsuits, hep ulls herdark responsible"f or her troubles. but Smith wasc learlya nxiousa nd depressed. brown-highlighted hair back in a ponytail. There's no sign that her legal opponents One nightshe dreamedt hatthe fedshadraid- Shem entions that it's not just legalp roblems areb ackingoff though. Liles'sa ttorney, Bri- -ed her office.Just before Carey's party, she that haveh umbled her, but alsoa brutalpro- an Maas, confirms that his client's lawsuit began crying so hard she couldn't leave the file ofher in TlteN eu YorkTimeslastA ugost, is going forward. "Ms. Smith wasi nvolved

Smithsa vtsh erew erep lentovf t hing"st hast houlhda vese to ffa larms" anda llegeths ath erf irin'se mployeweel rere sponsifbolerh ert roubles. f; I I room. "Mike wass o upset.H e said,'Every- in which she feelss hew as characterizeda sa in ane laboratefr aud,"s aysM aas." And.Mr. I one isw aiting fo r you-Jay-Z,Kein [Liles],"' music-businessw ashout who stole from Liless uffereds ubstantialol ssesa sa result i Smith saysB. ut shew asu nmoveda ndc aused friendsa nd clients. her And of actions." shiftingb lamet o her I Kyser to miss the party. She had a heart-to- As it tumed out, although her.coopera- employeesc ould be a shakys trategyf or i I heartwith him abouttheirrelationship, after tion with the feds was critical in building Smith.P resumablyif, t herew ass tronge vi- I which the pairagreedto startattendingchurch their casea gainst The Inc.-which centered dence,t heyw ould'veb eenn amedi n the i and make family a higherpriority. "Itwas the around the accountss he maintained for indictment.N or doesh erd ealw ith the feds I I I deepestc onversationwe had the whole time McGriff's venture-Smith wasn't called asa endt hep ossibilityo f prisont ime.N ever- I we weret ogether,"s hes ays. witness,p resumablyb ecauseh er credibili- thelessS, mithe xpressehso pe." Thisi s tem- t I OnJanuaryz ,zoo3, Smith retumed to her tywould haveb eena ttackedo n cross-exam- porary,"s hes ays".I promisey ou. Come I home-a sprawling ranch-style house in ination. Indeed, a sourcec loset o the Loren- baeka yearf rom now and thingsw ill be Pomona, N.Y., that she'd bought for more zos tells VIBE that their lawyers planned much different." tr I than halia-mil in zooo-convinced she was & going to start anewwith both Kysera nd Pre- fl mier. "The oldperson died,"Smith says," and a new personv /asr eboin." Shew asr ight but not inanywayshe couldhave imagined: The next moming, federala gentsr aidedb othThe lnc. and Premiefso ffices.I n just a few months' time, shewouldbe indicted,f acel awsuitsf rom her former clients,a nd her engagementt o Kyserwould end. (Contacted byVIBE at his Atlantic Records office, lnr: emphatically declined to comment forthis story.)The net- work ofhip hop and finance that shehad built from herdays asa lowlyAtRassistant atJive in the early'9os lay completely in shambles.

SCOTTF REE: { Smiths ayss heh opesth e Lorenzob rothers( lrv, right, andC hrisw) ill forgiveh er,n ow I that they'veb eena cquitted.

160 UTBG