[Travers] Bell had also been major shareholder in Freedom National Bank, which was taken over by federal authorities three years after he died. In addition, Cocoline Chocolate Co.,…filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition [in 1992].
A Superior Court probate judge in Morris County, N.J., ruled…actor Darryl Bell wasted the $14 million estate left by his late father out of imprudence, rather than wrongdoing as charged in a suit…While Bell had no experience in the business, court records indicate he put his mother and sister on the payroll and amassed a huge debt on the corporate credit card. As assets and revenue plummeted at the firm, the widow of the late founder, Laura Bell, and two of his sisters, Joanne Walker and Karen Bell McClearin, filed suit charging the young actor mismanaged the established New York securities firm.’ -via Jet Magazine; May 1993
After it was all said and done, Darryl’s father’s business plummeted from a net worth of $14.9million to $1million. The business owed several debtors, including the IRS, which had a $2.3million stake in the estate at that time.
In their suit, the women [Darryl’s aunts and father’s widow] had charged [that Darryl M.] Bell had mismanaged the business and misappropriated monies. They also asked the court to name new executors of the will and asked that co-executors, Darryl and his grandfather, be held accountable for replacing $5 million they maintained had disappeared from the estate. In dismissing the case after a six-month trial, [Judge] Stanton attributed the firm’s hard times to Bell’s inexperience rather than malicious intent. […] [Judge] Stanton said, “This estate has turned out to be a disaster. It is all very regrettable.” -via Jet Magazine, 1993
Mo' Money, Mo' Probs: "Different World" Actor Lost Millions & His Own Family Sued Him
