Photo by Cook County Sheriff’s Office via Getty Images
Major developments and new charges have been released in R. Kelly‘s sex abuse case. Though he claims to be broke, federal investigators have just discovered a bank account belonging to the shamed R&B legend containing more than $1.2 million. In addition, three of his associates have been arrested for allegedly bribing and threatening Kelly’s accusers and alleged victims.
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It has been reported that Richard Arline Jr., Donnell Russell, and Michael Williams have been charged with federal crimes involving harassment, bribery, and intimidation of witnesses. Officials claim these schemes include Arline Jr. offering a $500,000 payment to a victim to stop her from cooperating with the government. They also say Williams set fire to an SUV parked outside the home of a victim and Russell threatened to leak explicit photos of another victim if she did not end her lawsuit against the “Chocolate Factory” singer.
The 53-year-old’s ex-girlfriend Azriel Clary recently posted a photo revealing that her car had been set on fire, however, it is not confirmed that these incidents are the same or related to one another.
Clary and Kelly’s other former girlfriend, Joycelyn Savage, have both been very vocal accusing the three-time Grammy award winner of sexual and psychological abuse.
Kelly’s attorney, Steven Greenberg, released a statement on Twitter saying his client had nothing to do with the new allegations.
We just learned of the charging of several so called “associates” of R. Kelly. Without question, Robert Kelly had nothing to do with any of these alleged acts by those charged. He hasn’t attempted to intimidate anyone, or encouraged anyone else to do so. No involvement whatsoever