Prince's Siblings Claim Tribute Concert Promoters Pocketed Millions
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO0 -- Two of Prince's siblings have filed documents in Carver County District Court, claiming mismanagement of money from the Prince Tribute concert.
Prince's sister, Tyka Nelson, and half-brother Omarr Baker are asking the court to stop the discharge of the special administrator in charge of Prince's estate, Bremer Trust.
Bremer is set to hand over its work to Comerica Bank and Trust, but the siblings want a full accounting before that happens.
It was a five-hour concert last October with more than 100 musicians, all on stage to honor Prince Rogers Nelson.
The Prince Tribute concert, held at the Xcel Energy Center, was big fun for fans, but two of Prince's siblings are not happy with the outcome.
According to court documents, Tyka Nelson and Omarr Baker are looking for millions of dollars they claim promoters took, money that should have gone to their brother's estate.
"It's on the scale of a Michael Jackson-type estate or an Elvis estate," said Matt Guttman, an estate planning attorney.
Guttman, who is not associated with Prince's estate, says the artist's siblings are looking for more from the estate's special administrator.
"It seems that Omarr and Tyka are looking for additional information from Bremer as the special administrator here, and they don't appear to be satisfied with the information that has been provider," Guttman said.
Court documents say they are also not satisfied with the promoters of the concert. In court on Jan. 12, the siblings' attorneys said the estate is missing $7 million in proceeds.
"They're drawing the conclusion that Bremer, as a special administrator, should have been intimately involved with all of those details," Guttman said.
But Bremer Trust is looking to be done working with Prince's estate.
"I think they want to be out and they want to allow a new special administrator to come in and also take over for them and get discharged from their responsibility as the acting special administrator," Guttman said.
Tyka Nelson and Omarr Baker want the court to delay Bremer Trust's discharge until Bremer can give a more complete look into Prince's estate.
The court documents say Bremer Trust should have fired the promoters for their misrepresentations or took control of the dealings with the tribute concert.
There was an expectation that one promoter was going to handle the tribute and it ended up being a different promoter, and the siblings were not happy how things went.
The judge in the case will make the final decision on what happens next.