An accountant admitted Thursday he made DAYS OF OUR LIVES and former AS THE WORLD TURNS actress Tamara Tunie a real-life crime victim by stealing more than $1 million from her, the Kansas City Symphony's music director and other clients.Joseph Cilibrasi, who was Tunie's business manager for more than a decade, pleaded guilty to grand larceny and other charges. He used some of the stolen cash to finance his own forays into entertainment, including investing in movies and Broadway shows and hiring a screenwriter to pen a script about a historic building, prosecutors say.
According to the Associated Press, Cilibrasi's plea deal calls for 2 1/2 to 7 1/2 years in prison. He is free, pending a Jan. 4 sentencing.
Cilibrasi told a Manhattan judge he secretly opened a credit card account in Tunie's name — and got his own card on the account by falsely listing himself as her husband — and wrote checks to himself from her accounts without her permission.
"I stole over $1.4 million from Ms. Tunie Generet by converting funds from her (business accounts) to my personal use," he said, using the actress' married name.
Tunie, who plays medical examiner Melinda Warner on LAW & ORDER: SVU, is married to jazz singer Gregory Generet.
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