SPRING AWAKENING, BONNIE & CLYDE Producer Swindles Tamara Tunie out of 1.4 Million

Showbiz411.com reports that Legally Blonde, Spring Awakening and Bonnie & Clyde money-man, Joe Cilibrasi, has swindled Tamara Tunie, a client who he was managing financially, out of 1.4 million dollars. 

According to the report: "50 year old Joe Cilibrasi, who is not a certified accountant, is a real life Max Bialystock. He may have used the $1.4 million he's accused of stealing from Tunie and classical music conductor Michael Stern to produce Broadway shows...Cilibrasi was the money behind the Tony winning "Spring Awakening." Even better: he's producing the musical version of "Bonnie & Clyde" with Broadway producer Jeffrey Richards."

"Calibrasi pleaded not guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court on December 23rd to nine counts of fraud. He's being held on $100,000 bail. According to prosecutors, Calibrasi wrote checks to himself from clients' accounts. They say he opened bank accounts saying he was Tunie's husband."

For more on the developing story, click here.

She is best known for her portrayal of attorney Jessica Griffin on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns, and medical examiner Melinda Warner on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Broadway credits include Radio Golf, Julius Caesar, and Ok, Kay! Tunie has also produced the Tony Award-winning Broadway production Spring Awakening alongside Cilibrasi.

Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski