GIACCHETTO CASHED OTHERS’ CHECKS FOR $11 MILLION

Dana Giacchetto, embattled money manager to the stars, allegedly cashed 58 checks totaling $11 million that were made out to celebrity investors such as Matt Damon, Ben Stiller and the rock group Phish, the Los Angeles Times reports.

"If I misspelled my name on a check, my bank would bounce it," says David Comarow, a lawyer representing two Giacchetto investors, artists Robert Ginder and Cara Wood Ginder.

Apparently, Comarow doesn't bank at Boston-based U.S. Trust, where a critical breakdown in normal banking protocol seems to have taken place in the Giacchetto case. Cassandra Group, Giacchetto's company, had an account there and the bank cashed his clients' checks for him, no questions asked.

Two weeks after he was charged with stealing more than $6 million from his clients, Giacchetto is the subject of three investigations: an internal bank investigation, a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and federal criminal investigations.

How Giacchetto managed these transactions will go a long way toward identifying who will be left holding the bag for Giacchetto's alleged scams, who will be liable for money lost by investors. Already, lawyers are organizing investors for potential lawsuits, with Giacchetto's banking relationships at the heart of their efforts.