Via The Wrap:
“Dance Moms” star Abby Lee Miller pleaded guilty to federal bankruptcy fraud and money laundering on Monday in Pittsburgh.
Miller was indicted in October on charges of concealing her income in the amount of $675,000 from her stint on the Lifetime reality show in 2012 and 2013. During that same period, her dance studio had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Federal agents claimed that Miller created bank accounts to conceal her income from being an instructor on the show, which follows competitive young dancers and inevitably showcases conflicts between their mothers and Miller.
In addition, Miller admitted to smuggling between $120,000 and $150,000 in Australian currency back into the United States without properly declaring it.
It’s always a little weird when people who are becoming rich because they are becoming famous think they can be “creative” with the finances and hope it flies under the federal radar.
Have they met the feds?
Business is still booming for Ms. Miller. Last year she opened up a studio up the street from me in West L.A. and it’s not only packed with aspiring young dancers, but tourists are always stopping outside to take pictures. I don’t know what a large gathering of stage mothers is called (a “vicarious”?), but I woke up one Saturday to find a line of them and their little hopefuls wrapped around almost two blocks in my previously nondescript neighborhood.
It was a warm day and the melting makeup on the moms is a sight I’ll never forget.
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