Abby Lee Miller of ‘Dance Moms’ Indicted on Fraud Charges
On the other hand, Robert Ridge, the lawyer of Abby Lee Miller, mentioned that she filed a bankruptcy petition to save her studio and paid her creditors an agreed amount. According to the allegations, the 49-year-old concealed $755,492.85 of income to gain more favorable terms. Investigators found emails between Miller, her accountant and another partner with the subject line “LETS MAKE MONEY AND KEEP ME OUT OF JAIL”.
Miller will be arraigned on November 5 in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.
Judge Thomas Agresti, who was overseeing the case, saw her on television advertising her appearances on “Ultimate Dance Competition” and “American Idol”.
Last Wednesday (October 7), Miller tweeted that filming for Season 6 of Dance Moms had officially begun, urging her followers to “Get excited!” Back in early 2014, “Dance Moms” mama Kelly Hyland allegedly attacked Miller over her treatment of her two teenage daughters, whom she felt were being overlooked from among her students. Despite being mentioned several times in the indictment as paying funds for Miller to third-party vendors and others, Collins Avenue is not named as a defendant.
The outspoken reality star was slammed with a 20-count indictment that includes charges of “bankruptcy fraud, concealment of bankruptcy assets, and false bankruptcy declarations”, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced.
The Department of Justice issued a statement regarding the indictment and charges brought against Abby Lee Miller.
Miller has not responded publicly to the news yet, and her lawyer, Robert Ridge, told local Pittsburgh newspaper TribLive that “We haven’t seen the indictment yet, so we’ll have to take a look at it and respond accordingly”.
Miller said at the time that a few changes needed to be made before she signed another contract and moved forward with another season.