Biz Markie’s widow sued his former business manager over control of his licensing company and money allegedly owed to his estate.
According to court documents obtained by AllHipHop, Tara Hall accused Jennifer Izumi of a myriad of intellectual property violations in the lawsuit. Hall also claimed Izumi misappropriated funds from Biz Markie’s company.
Tara Hall married Marcel Theo Hall a.k.a. Biz Markie in 2018. Before their marriage, Izumi obtained limited power of attorney from Biz Markie regarding transactions but not intellectual property.
“Izumi granted herself 51% of Mr. Hall’s income and control of his company during the final years of his life, until it was discovered,” the lawsuit says. “Defendant Izumi and/or her authorized representative filed tax returns for Biz Markie, Inc., listing herself as 51% shareholder and Mr. Hall as 49% shareholder, continuing until 2020.”
The lawsuit cites multiple instances of Izumi’s “fraudulent, willful, malicious, knowing, wanton, reckless and/or grossly negligent” behavior. One example involved Izumi allegedly making herself the beneficiary of Biz Markie’s life insurance policies, which were meant to provide money to his nephews and niece.
“In or about 2015, Mr. Hall purchased two $500,000 life insurance policies from Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, and, while he was alive, named his three nephews and niece as the sole beneficiaries,” the lawsuit explains. “However, the month after he was married, in or about November 2018, Defendant Izumi covertly applied to change the ownership of the policies to one of her solely owned corporations, Balancing Acts, Inc., with herself as the sole beneficiary of one of the policies and 40% beneficiary of the other, reducing Mr. Hall’s nephews’ and niece’s percentage to 20% each. These changes went into effect on January 24, 2019 – three (3) months after his wedding, and without his knowledge or consent.”
Hall says Izumi took advantage of Biz Markie’s health problems, making moves while he was incapacitated from June 2020 through July 2021. Izumi allegedly hacked into his personal email accounts, preventing Biz Markie’s widow from doing bank transfers, tracking down creditors and more.
“During the Period of Incapacitation, Defendants engaged in numerous financial and corporate transactions that directly benefited Defendants … to the detriment of the financial well-being of Mr. Hall and therefore the Plaintiff,” Hall contends. “These actions were not authorized by Mr. Hall, as he was unable to make financial decisions during the Period of Incapacitation.”
Izumi’s alleged misdeeds even included a PPP loan scam.
“While Mr. Hall was in the hospital, BM, Inc. obtained a $149,000.00 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, authorized by the CARES Act to provide small businesses with the funds to continue to pay their employees,” the lawsuit reveals. “However, upon Plaintiff’s understanding and belief, there were no employees, and Defendant Izumi misappropriated the company’s funds and used them to pay her personal taxes.”
Izumi has allegedly locked Biz Markie’s widow out of his company despite Hall being the administrator of his estate. Hall wants the court to rule she’s the sole owner of Biz Markie Inc. and get a full accounting of what Izumi’s done with the company.
Additionally, Hall aims to have Izumi’s power of attorney deemed “invalid and unenforceable.” If it’s not possible, she seeks to confirm it doesn’t include intellectual property rights.
Biz Markie died in July 2021. He was 57.
