If found guilty, Abby Lee Miller could end up behind bars for as long as her show has been on TV. The Dance Moms star was indicted Tuesday by a Pittsburgh grand jury on 20 counts of fraud. Miller is alleged to have hidden more than $755,000 in earnings from the Lifetime reality series produced by Collins Avenue Production and related businesses from the courts and the taxman. All of which could end up costing Miller five years in prison and more than $5 million in fines if convicted. “Criminal prosecution is appropriate when debtors corrupt the bankruptcy process through deceit and lies before the court,” said U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton bluntly today announcing the indictment (read it here).
Citing charges of bankruptcy fraud, concealment of bankruptcy assets and false bankruptcy declarations, among others, the indictment says that Miller orchestrated a complex shell game to hide money in recent years following her 2010 Chapter 11 petition to reorganize her dance studio business. That shell game of secret bank accounts brought accountants and even her family into the plan as well. “It was further a part of the scheme and artifice to defraud that in order to conceal her TV show income, Miller directed Collins Avenue to pay approximately $51,800 of Miller’s TV show talent fees to her mother, Maryen Miller,” says the indictment.
The investigation by the feds started after the judge in Miller’s bankruptcy case saw Dance Moms on TV and grew suspicious as to where all the money from the show was. 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.
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Each charge in this week’s indictment comes with a $250,000 fine. The arraignment is scheduled for November 5 in federal court in Pittsburgh. While Miller has yet to enter a plea, Magistrate Judge Cynthia Reed Eddy wants a $10,000 unsecured bond to make sure she shows up next month. Not unsurprisingly, Lifetime had no comment on the indictment or the future of Dance Moms, which recently began shooting its sixth season according to Miller.
Started filming season 6 today of #DanceMoms! Get excited!!!
— Abby Lee Miller (@Abby_Lee_Miller) October 8, 2015
Whatever happens with the show or Miller’s role on it, what is clear right now is that the government believes Miller, who is no stranger to the courts, was stashing a lot of money around even as she was getting approval and discharged from her Chapter 11. Her bankruptcy plan “was approved by the bankruptcy court despite the fact that Miller knowingly concealed from the Trustee, creditors and the Court a substantial amount of business income which she earned from her appearances as the featured performer on the reality television program Dance Moms, and related spinoff TV programs, as well as income she earned from Masterclass dance events and online merchandise sales from Abby Lee Dance Company.com.”
While Lifetime isn’t commenting, those taking Miller to court — and possibly prison — had plenty to say.
“Fraud and dishonesty in bankruptcy proceedings undermines the integrity of these important proceedings and especially hurts the creditors and American Taxpayers,” said IRS agent Akeia Conner said Wednesday. “Concealing assets from the Court and not paying taxes is a gross violation of civic duty, and IRS Criminal Investigation will work diligently with our law enforcement partners to pursue those who do so.”
Better dance fast, Abby.
Weird. She seems super chill.
hahahaha
She’s pretty dumb if she’s a public figure on TV and she thinks she can get away with that. The IRS crucifies people who are public figures anyway. it’s too much hard work to be that dishonest.
But, I don’t understand why Al Sharpton gets by not paying his taxes!?
I live in Pittsburgh and only had to be in the company of Abby Lee once to see how arrogent and full of herself she is. I guess she got too big for her britches!
No surprises there then, “too BIG for her britches!!!”😊😉
This is a criminal case. Can you speak to the situation and not speculations and off color jokes.
This is an adult thread
That’s stranger. I got a completely different feeling when I met her. I live in Pittsburgh too. She was polite, kind, and downright generous to me, as she has been to everyone else I’ve talked to who has actually met her
You will get different opinons on Abby so they cancel each other out. She committed fraud allegedly. She has a great source of income now.
let her make restitution and call it over.
It’s not rocket science
Unless they want to tar and feather a 48 year old woman who has never been to jail…
Ok Melissa lol
If you don’t mind me asking, when you say in her company, was she actually talking to you guys or did it just seem like she was arrogant? Like they said, I’ve never actually seen someone (not off the show) criticise her that’s actually met her
How Abby acts on tv has nothing to do with not including all her income to the bankruptcy courts. That’s fraud. Also Obama had nothing to do with her decisions to commit fraud with the government. Her employer should be paying her not a family member that didn’t do the work
I don’t care for her show but that’s not the issue.
I don’t like to see anyone suffer through a rough time, but this woman is so mean spirited that I can say I really do not feel too sorry for Abby Lee over this matter. She boasts of knowing what buttons to push to make a child cry and when they do cry she berates them & them and tells them “to save the tears for their pillow” Hopefully the judge who presides over this case is as compassionate & fair minded to Miller as Abby has be been to the little girls who attend her dance school.
Whatever, if all these claims of how horrible she really is to children is true, then every single parent who has knowingly exposed their daughter to this woman should be charged with child endangerment.
These parents brought these kids back year after year..why? Hope for stardom and fsme and money. A nudge can see threw that when he/ she reads how many years the kids came back..
I’m a dancer. I travel all over the country. I have been in class with Abby before. I have been in class with all of the girls on the show. She never ever says one harsh word. The producers have admitted multiple times to staging most of what she says, and Maddie and kalani told me that she always apologizes for what she was made to say after the days filming is done. All I’m saying is, don’t judge her based off of what you see on TV. She’s supposed to play a villain on the show, so you only see the villainous side of her. You don’t know the full picture.
I agree…she makes those little girls cry
Mean spirited is not against the law thank goodness.They can not judge her on someone’s opinon. She has good attorneys. And I am sure a fair and just judge. I think Jain time is just what hater want.
These charges are outrageous! Abby Lee is 100% innocent! The only thing she’s guilty of is caring too much about her dance girls! We will prevail in federal court then we will sue Lifetime for $10,000,000 this is all their fault!
Saul Goodman…good plan. I knew I was right when I told Abby she better call Saul!
You are nuts. This woman is a jerk. The way she treats some of her dancers (when not her favorites) is disgusting.
You don’t know she is a jerk. You’ve never had a conversation with her. You only know what you see on TV, which is about as far from “reality” as you can get. Abby is kind, supportive, and generous. She has always wanted the best for my child, and has never yelled or made her cry. That is all for the show. It upsets me that most of the country is blind to her real personality. Thank you, lifetime, for projecting such an inaccurate and unfair picture of Abby that she is now in this situation, just because a judge watched the show. Everyone who knows her as a person, not as a TV figure, will back up what I’m saying.
The IRS stalks Collins Ave.
Biaylstock and Bloom have asked her to choreograph “Prisoners of Love” while they all serve their time…
I think she let pride override any good sense she might have had.
I see a lifetime movie in the making!!
Abby can now be a star on Orange is the New Black!
Like that one
Too funny!!!
This is why your business should be a separate entity from your estate. If the dance studio were not linked to Abby’s personal account it would not matter how much money she made outside the studio. They say don’t mix business with pleasure, I say don’t mix business monies with personal income. Make yourself an employee of the business, give yourself a paycheck, abs make the business responsible for keeping itself afloat. Then if it begins to fail you can show that the business is need of restructuring, not your own personal accounts.
Sorry, but it doesn’t matter if she made money outside the studio income is income and subject to taxes.
Will they cut dance moms????😁😢
It’ll be a waltz in the park for her.
It’s very unfortunate what reality TV does to people. Makes them alot of money and then turns them into criminals or into depressed suicidal individuals. Look at poor Lamar.
And the Duggars
What goes around comes around, I knew she would get what she deserves, jail time for abusing those girls and not feeling guilty about it.
Will they cut dance moms???
Some of the times she treats the parents and children horrible. They are kids. If you have problems mentally, get help, but don’t ruin a talented young persons dream because want to have a tantrum.
I’m getting sick of people who don’t know Abby thinking they know what they are talking about. Please. You don’t know half of what really goes on. Abby has never been anything but supportive of my girls and her classmates. The drama on the show is almost all staged by the producers. Abby always apologizes when the cameras are off; I’ve seen it with my own eyes. The show IS NOT REAL. In real life, Abby is sensitive, caring, and kind. I cannot believe how many people think they know what she has done and what she deserves. She deserves nothing but payment for how supportive she is of all of her students in reL life.
karma is a bitch- I wonder if any of those dance moms had anything to do with bringing this to the fed attention
is there going to be a season 6 of dance moms?? :(
Well it about time life time understood
Good for her!! The more money you can keep out of the greedy hands of Obamas tyrannical regime the better. If everyone did it they couldn’t get us all!
You are really ignorant! Not paying taxes is illegal and totally against Christianity. So if you want to be a criminal and go to hell , stay on that path!
Um not paying taxes is technically not illegal being taxed is a violation of our rights but at the end of the day you can not fight the government so it is better to pay what you owe, secondly it is not a sin not to pay taxes I am a catholic and I know that is absolutely not one of the ten commandments and is not mentioned anywhere in the bible while I don’t agree with people who don’t pay taxes or misuse the bankruptcy courts lets not get carried away
Pretty ignorant on two counts. First, every government has the right to levy taxes. How else would there be a government? I guess we are supposed to fight off foreign invaders with pop guns and rowboats??? Second, didn’t Jesus say ” Render unto Caesar…”? Perhaps you should actually read the bible before you profess to be an expert on it. Reading just the Ten Commandments is not exactly a huge commitment to your faith.
All the hate you’ve spouted and you tell her your a Christian ? Hypocrisy at is finest
What does Obama have to do with her not reporting all her income in a bankruptcy report! He didn’t make the rules.
I saw it all coming
She is my rollmoldle she is not guilty plz think your all ways filming how could she.
In vestigate workers she’s framed
I love abby
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person. You know what they say about Karma!