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Stan Lee's Former Manager, Keya Morgan, Arrested in Arizona on Charges Of Elder Abuse Against Stan

Published Sun, 26 May 2019 07:00:37 -0500

Last updated Fri, 21 Feb 2020 14:40:33 -0600

Yesterday, previous business manager and associate of the late Stan Lee, Keya Morgan, was arrested yesterday on charges of elder abuse. Morgan was arrested and held in Arizona by Scottsdale and Phoenix police on a warrant from LA prosecutors made earlier in the month, on charges including theft, embezzlement, forgery or fraud against an elder adult, and false imprisonment of an elder adult, as well as a misdemeanor count of elder abuse.

In a written release from the Los Angeles Police Department, they state that "Mr. Lee had a large estate worth over an estimated $50 million with no clear protection from opportunists who could insert themselves into his life and take control of it," that "it had been revealed that no one had clear legal authority to act on Mr. Lee's behalf; yet, Morgan exerted his control and influence over Lee," and that Morgan implemented a common "method of operation of financial-abuse opportunists is gaining the trust of the elder in hopes for the what may be a big pay-off in the long-run, or what is phrased as the 'the long con.'"

What happened to that $262,000?

The report states that authorities claim Morgan sought to capitalize on Stan Lee's wealth and exert influence over Lee even though he had no authority to act on his behalf. With police stating that Morgan took more than $262,000 from autograph signing sessions Lee did at the Silicon Valley Comic Con a year ago. At the time, under severe criticism for the nature of those signing sessions, Morgan told Bleeding Cool that he wasn't taking any money from those appearances at all.

The reports also cites that Morgan planned "to further deceive Lee into believing he was in danger and needed to be moved from his home to a more secured condominium where Morgan had more control over Lee" and described as false imprisonment.

Morgan originally worked with Lee on a never-published comic book

Morgan had been acquainted with Stan Lee for a number of years, working on a planned-but-never-released comic project called Nitron. Assuming the role of managing a number of Stan Lee's affairs, from signings at comic conventions to his Twitter account he was often quoted and featured in TMZ and Daily Mail exclusive stories and videos about Stan and it was understood that Morgan is interested in securing the rights to a biopic of Stan Lee's life.

In his final years, Stan Lee had been the focus of many bizarre stories of late, from allegations of sexual assault against him, allegations of elder abuse towards him, DNA extraction, concern over his welfare from fellow comic book professionals, concern over his signing sessions, legal suits against former business partners and his own company Pow Entertainment to seeming to support Elon Musk on Twitter.

Morgan was arrested for SWATing the police themselves

Morgan was previously arrested over charges including making false police reports regarding Stan Lee and was the subject of a number of restraining orders regarding Lee before his death, including noting that Morgan SWATed police officers with other armed police. They also stated that Morgan was manipulating theLee, preventing him from seeing family and friends, and trying to take control of his money and business affairs. At the time, many friends and colleagues of Stan Lee complained that they were prevented from contacting him.

Morgan's attorney Alex Kessel previously stated that 'My client stands firmly on his presumption of innocence. I expect him to be completely exonerated of all charges. He has never abused Mr Stan Lee in any way. Please note our unequivocal position'. As to this arrest, Kessel states that had been in contact with prosecutors to arrange for Morgan to surrender this Tuesday.

Morgan's bail has been set at $300,000 and he will be extradited to Los Angeles.

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