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Credit: Clifton Prescod/Bravo
Britani Bateman is being accused of stealing $100,000 from a sick relative.
In a newly filed civil lawsuit against the 53-year-old Real Housewives of Salt Lake City cast member, Sandra Underwood, 87, the mother of Britani’s ex-husband, John Scott Underwood, claims that after loaning Britani the money in 2021 during a time of need, the reality star won’t pay her back, despite the fact that Sandra “does not have sufficient income” to cover her living costs and medical expenses.
“Britani willfully, maliciously and through intentionally fraudulent conduct, also converted Plaintiff’s funds and now refuses to repay the funds,” the civil complaint, filed on May 6 and obtained by Daily Mail on May 26, stated, noting that Britani had used the $100,000 for “her own personal benefit” after it was deposited into a trust fund.
According to the report, Sandra added the funds to a trust set up by Britani’s father, Melvin Merrill Martin, which named Britani as a trustee and beneficiary, after making a profit on the sale of her former home. As Sandra alleged, Britani “urged” her to do so with the understanding that she could “request it be withdrawn at anytime and it would be returned to her without objection.”
Sandra also added over $200,000 more to the trust with the intention of building herself a home on Britani’s property in Utah.
But after Sandra’s attorney fired off a letter to Britani in March, demanding the $100,000 be returned, Britani failed to respond. In the letter, it was stated that Britani “implicitly agreed” that Sandra was entitled to the money, and she “said something to the effect of, ‘I don’t know why not.’”
The attorney also requested that Britani, who was added to the RHOSLC cast in 2024 for season five, have “simple decency and morality” to pay back the $100,000 so Sandra would “be able to live out her life in a semi-comfortable way.”
Meanwhile, as she flaunted her wealth on social media, Britani claimed her bank accounts had been “drained” by her ex-husband and accused him of cutting her off from their joint businesses.
In her complaint, it is stated that Sandra wants the $100,000 back “plus interest at the statutory prescribed rate,” starting at the time the transfer was made in 2021. She also wants Britani to pay her attorney fees and other costs, including up to three times the amount of her losses.
In other news, Britani has also accused John of being non-compliant to a Domestic Relations Injunction, alleging an “unauthorized expenditure of business funds on personal expenses, failure to add Britani to accounts related to the businesses of the parties, unauthorized draining of the account of the parties’ business and failure to operate the businesses consistent with the parties’ historical manner.”
Before their split, the couple shared three businesses, including their real estate development company, Starwood Group, their production company, Pure Productions, and their construction business, Millcreek Builders.
Britani has also claimed that John, who she divorced in 2023 after more than six years of marriage, caused her “severe emotional distress” by demanding sex multiple times per day and other “controlling” behavior, including “dictating what clothing, makeup, perfume, and other beauty products Britani could and could not wear or use, both in and out of his presence.”
In response to Britani’s claims, however, John’s attorney, Randy S. Keste, denied any wrongdoing with a statement to the Daily Mail.
“This is just one of many vexatious cases for which Ms. Underwood has had the impetus, often making false and exaggerated claims. At least three prior cases which she was behind have already been dismissed,” he noted.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City season six is expected to premiere on Bravo sometime later this year.
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