Loses house, life savings. Manager indicted on 13 counts of wire fraud…
File it under You Can’t Trust Anyone. Clay Marzo’s bookkeeper was indicted recently on 13 counts of wire fraud after allegedly stealing more than $400k from Clay and his mother.
Felicidad Rivera, 51, pleaded not guilty during her arraignment Monday in U.S. District Court in Honolulu. Her bail was set at $50,000.
Marzo, 27, lost his home and his life savings and was left $30,000 in debt, his mother, Jill Marzo Clark, said in a phone interview Tuesday. Clark said that she also lost a significant amount of money.
“It’s been a year of trying to get to this point,” Clark said Tuesday. “It’s bittersweet; it’s awful that she did what she did because she was like a family member. She was close with us and worked with me for a long time.
“I hope that it all goes the right way, but it still doesn’t feel good. I’ve been sick to my stomach since Friday when she was arrested.”
According to the federal indictment, Rivera wrote herself 193 checks from January 2010 to October 2015 totaling more than $330,000 from the accounts of Marzo and his mother. Rivera also paid more than $75,000 of her own Chase credit card charges from Marzo’s account in 87 transactions from May 2010 to September 2015.
Rivera concealed her transactions through phony entries in QuickBooks ledgers that she was maintaining, court documents said. Clark and her son had difficulties monitoring Rivera’s activities due to disabilities from which they both suffer.
What can you say to that?
Fucking brutal. Everything gone. Left in debt. Gotta hope for restitution, but that shit never amounts to nothin’. Not much high paying work out there once you’ve been caught stealing from clients. Marzo will most likely be paid back in drips and drabs over the rest of his life. If at all.
Bright side?
Clay still fucking rips. He should be able to earn some of it back. Dig his way out of a situation he’s done nothing to deserve.
Many highly paid Athletes/Actors/rich defer all bill paying and tax filing to a Business Manager so they do not have to bother with any decision making, and it works most of the time. Using a one person shop, which Rivera seems to be, is not a good idea: someone else should reviewing the statements as both Clay and his mother have mental disabilities. The bank they used might also be liable for not questioning why checks were going to Rivera – though she may have covered that up. Hopefully more details will come out in the trial before this shows up on American Greed.
Does his disability qualify him for some type of assistance if he is really that high and dry?
Always enjoy his surfing! Hard for me to rationalize a crowd fund to keep him in the water.
My sister has used it to get her, the little wave slayer to comps. The first time i was like “thats cool”, second time kinda thought “are you kidding me.”(note: they live in one of the nicer beach communities.) Yes I’m a jealous uncle. That little wax’r is surfing well above me now and a pleasure to watch surf. Learning to cope! Back to Clay! I would give that guy all the support if he used his talent, and I know it would be hard for him. Imagine a well delivered TED TALK w/ feature movie. He could go around the world a couple times. Packing the house..
I think Clay is perhaps the best surfer never to be on tour in the last 10+ years. He only produces left video clips but the guy has one of the gnarliest backhands too from growing up surfing Honolua. The WSL should give him a couple wildcard cracks next year to possibly recoup some money. It’s not like he’s a wasted talent. He has a disability and an amazing story like Bethany.
fuck thats sad. Clay is such an all time legend
Felicidad Rivera… Maybe Trump’s wall ain’t such a bad idea.
Straight up, lamest comment ever on BG.^
Cheers mate
I don’t know about that. I’m on the southern side of the wall and that comment made me chuckle.
Ahhhh the morning after! You lose Preston, hope you enjoy the purge!
How does you promoting racist comments make me lose?
Hilarious!
If people paid on a crowd funder to get Ricardo Christie on tour surely enough people can stump up a few bucks to help Clay stay surfing and putting out clips. No disrespect to Ricardo of course I just used him as an example of good will. It’s also a nice reflection on the amount of cunts in the world that people feel the need to abuse their situation to rip people off like that.
That’s shithouse, but it makes you wonder just how much Clay was earning at his peak…
There is a special place in hell for people like this.
I’d crowdfund Clay to surf.
5 bucks a month and get a 3-5minute clip out of it.
Cheaper than a brown sanga.
That’s probably where a Facebook Live/ Periscope type thing (and probably guys like JJF) is going. Want to see your favorite surfer in perfect conditions or just bored at work? $10/ month gets it done. And with actual production….not just shaky cell phone streaming.
I want some editing for my fiver thanks.
Just a light cut, as done by an unpaid intern.
Ahhh…interns…the modern day slave.
I’d prefer 8 to 10 hours of perfect Pipe, Cloudbreak, etc. with some light commentary (i.e. who is in the water, some board info maybe) to make my day at work more tolerable. Kinda like muzak but with better scenery and the occasional carnage!
Kind of like a “Surfline live” broadcast mixed with CT event commentary, but off the cuff and swearing allowed! Almost as though you’re just part of the peanut gallery watching the waves at Pipe on an epic day.
PERFECT!!!
Get Mason Ho, Freddy P., JOB and some of the other Pipe denizens doing the commentary and we’ve got ourselves a show!
Heck…even just an open mic on the deck of the Volcom A house would be good fun.
Do agree!!! I just care about surfing!!! Watch great footage with good edition and a cold beer is my drug to forget about my daily problems!!! I will crowdfund Clay!!!
Well who here of the privileged time abundant is gonna put together the crowdfunder? I’d chip in. Though beachgrit has had a poor record on this :/
🙁 Can he get a sponsor that pays??
He deserves more than most on tour, one of the most entertaining for sure.
He’s hands down the best goofy forehand tube rider in the world. Watching him navigate the barrel is a sight to see and will make any curmudgeonly regular foot bow in respect.
Taking advantage of this family isn’t just fucked because they happen to deal with developmental disabilities but because they are genuinely good people.
So fucked.
Clay deserves to be independently wealthy just so he can dazzle us with web clips
burn that witch!