Dane Cook’s brother accused of embezzling more than $10 million

Dane Cook's older half-brother, Darryl McCauley, was arraigned yesterday in a Massachusetts district court, charged with stealing more than $10 million from Cook since July 2007. Cook had been paying McCauley $150,000 a year to handle his personal finances (his comedy fans may know him better as the older brother who managed a Burger King, sold merch at Cook's shows and ran his email and Website operations). When Cook replaced his brother with a California-based manager this fall, however, he couldn't get McCauley to turn over his files, and instead, McCauley forged and cashed a check on Dec. 5 for $3 million — coincidentally, the amount of bail held on him now. Cashing a $3 million check, recession or no recession, is the kind of thing that tips off investigators. It also clues you into how much money Cook has earned from his stand-up tours and movie roles. McCauley's attorney argued yesterday that all of the withdrawals were done with Cook's consent, despite an equally strong denial by Cook's lawyer outside the courtroom. Cook did not appear. McCauley's next scheduled court appearance is Jan. 15. (Globe, Herald)

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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