WHAT A HEEL!: The Butler (Allegedly) Did It
Graham J. Lefford, 44, former butler to media mogul Robert F. X. Sillerman, allegedly made a killing by snapping up 5,000 shares of a penny-stock shell company for 12 cents each after reading documents faxed between Sillerman's office in Manhattan and his Southampton, LI home about a deal his boss was working on to use the shell company to acquire commercial rights to Elvis Presley's name and likeness from the Presley estate. After the two deals were announced in December 2004, shares of the shell company, soared more than 9,000 percent, and Lefford cashed out of his $600 "investment" with a $48,525 windfall, according to a suit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in federal court in Manhattan. The SEC is seeking restitution of the unlawful profits plus interest and an unspecified civil fine. Sillerman's company, which also controls the branding rights to "American Idol" and Muhammad Ali, said it "cooperated fully" with the SEC's investigation.
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