A struggling Scores stripper used her sexual prowess to coerce an obese, alcoholic HBO executive into leaving her most of his savings, new court papers allege.
Veronica Beckham, 31, is accused of manipulating Micky Liu, whom she knew for only a few months, into naming her as the beneficiary on his 401(k) account, retirement plan and a life insurance policy worth $223,000.
Liu, an IT director for HBO who lived alone in Herald Square, was suffering from heart disease, diabetes and chronic alcoholism when he died in March at age 50.
“Beckham, as a professional exotic dancer, was adept at applying and using coercion and manipulation upon men,” his sister, May, alleges in Surrogate’s Court documents contesting the accounts. May wants Beckham to return her brother’s money, an amount not disclosed in the court documents.
Liu was sipping on “sparkling water” when he met Beckham at a Scores strip club in Atlantic City in July 2014, the cash-strapped exotic dancer said during a deposition. They kept in contact even while Beckham left her New Jersey apartment in August 2014 to visit her sick mom in Florida, she said.
At the end of the month, Liu flew her back up to New York to terminate her apartment lease and let her crash at his apartment until Oct. 2, when she moved to Miami, according to court documents.
On Oct. 21, Liu named her as the beneficiary of his 401(k) and retirement plan, the papers state.
“Sweet veronica, there’s nothing in me that would ever say or do anything to intentionally hurt you,” he wrote Beckham in an email sent on Oct. 24 at 3:56 a.m. “I love and care for you dearly. I wish you knew.”
Liu then made Beckham the beneficiary of his life insurance policy and IRA account in late January, the same month he traveled to Florida to visit her, according to the documents.
“I do worry about you,” he wrote in an email on Jan. 20. “And I miss you. Why is it taking you so long to get your phone replaced? Money? Need some? I’m not used to not being able to contact you.”
Despite the sister’s accusations, Beckham claimed in a deposition they never had a sexual relationship: “We had more of an everlasting friendship.’’
Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton