(Photo Source: Associated Press)

Unfortunately, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King may be turning over in their graves soon. The siblings of the late civil rights leader and his wife were summoned to court for misappropriation of estate funds.

Bernice King and Martin Luther King III charge that, back in June 2008, their brother Dexter King improperly transferred a “substantial amount of money” from Bank of America to accounts he has control over. The lawsuit filed in the Fulton County, Georgia Superior Court, claims that the Bank of America account contains funds from the estate of Coretta Scott King, who died in 2006 at the age of 78.

Bernice King is the administrator of her late mother’s estate. While Dexter King is the President of the Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Corporation, of which all siblings are shareholders. According to the lawsuit complaint, the siblings are in disagreement over who should manage the estate, and claims that the funds are being “misapplied or wasted”. The siblings allege that Dexter has control and has “wrongfully appropriated assets” for “his own benefits.”

Dexter also has allegedly refused to provide his brother and sister with “information and documentation concerning the operation, actions and financial affairs of the Corporation to which they are entitled.” In 2006, the King corporation, sold a private collection of Dr. King’s papers that was worth an estimated $30 million. The material was to have been auctioned by Sotheby’s, but was purchased by a coalition of Atlanta civic and business leaders for future display by Morehouse College, King’s alma mater. (Source1, Source2)

First reported by Courthouse News, a copy of the lawsuit can be found in detail here.


Speaking of estates and auctions, the late James Brown estate has halted their auction plans because of a dispute over where the money should go. James’ longtime lawyer, Buddy Dallas, says money from the sale should go to Brown’s estate. But his former manager, Alford Bradley, says that James specified that the money go to his ‘I Feel Good Trust’ to educate poor children.

Hopefully, this case will be resolved in Monday’s court hearing.

UPDATE: Fox News reports that over $1 million worth of James Brown personal items will be auctioned off at Christie’s of New York. Items scheduled to be auctioned off include:

  • 83 pair of sunglasses
  • 80 hair rollers (now that’s hilarious!!)
  • Songs and love notes written by James Brown
  • Denim jumpsuit worn by Brown in 1974 (for the historical “Rumble In the Jungle” boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman)
  • Yamaha baby grand piano with “Godfather of Soul” enscription

(Source)


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