Kevin Hart’s personal shopping was caught allegedly purchasing at least $1 million worth of items for himself throughout a 19-month time period. Dylan Jason Syer was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on Wednesday as he faces grand larceny and several other charges, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced. He was charged on a 10-count indictment with grand larceny in the first and second degree, criminal possession of stolen property in the first and second degree, identity theft in the first degree and scheme to defraud in the first degree, according to PEOPLE.
Katz said that Syer started working with Hart in 2015. He was hired through his personal shopping business, Sire Consulting, LLC, to be the comedian’s personal shopper. Over the years, Syer was in possession of Hart’s credit card numbers “with the understanding that he would only make authorized purchases,” Katz explained. However, that was not the case. Instead, Syer spent up to $1 million in “unauthorized charges on those credit cards over the course of 19 months.”
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Katz explained that he charged $923,000 on Hart’s credit cards combined with an additional $240,000 in jewelry and watches from a California jeweler. “The investigation revealed that the defendant used his business’s credit card processing account to make unauthorized charges on Mr. Hart’s credit card. Once those credit card charges were processed by Syer’s bank, the proceeds poured into Syer’s checking account,” Katz said.
Syer was arrested on Wednesday with his home being searched by investigators who found $250,000 in cash and goods. Up until Wednesday, several photos of the items were on Syer’s Instagram page. “With Mr. Hart’s stolen money in the defendant’s bank account and at his disposal, the defendant then purchased thousands of dollars of fine art and other collectibles, and at least 5 Patek Phillipe watches valued at more than $400,000,” the DA said. “Among these art and collectible purchases was a Sam Friedman painting, at least 16 Bearbrick collectible dolls, 5 KAWS collectible dolls, and two Louis Vuitton Keepall Bandouliere bags.”
Katz said, “No one is immune to being targeted by fraudsters. The defendant, who owned a personal shopper business, used legitimate purchases to gain access and then allegedly continued to charge the actor’s credit cards for astronomical sums of money.” Syer will have his possession seized until the amount is made up. Hart was thanked for his cooperation in the investigation. Syer is expected to return to court on Wednesday, Feb. 17 and could face up to 25 years in prison.
