Stan Lee’s Former Business Manager Has Been Arrested For Elder Abuse

As expected, the late Stan Lee’s former business manager Keya Morgan has been arrested. In comic book land, a villain as awful as Keya might face justice by getting blasted into space or frozen in a block of Hulk shit. But in this story, justice means getting slapped with a pair of handcuffs and a mug shot, while the news blasts headlines about your arrest for elder abusing one of Marvel’s most beloved characters.

People says that Keya was taken into custody by the Scottsdale and Phoenix Police Department on Saturday in Arizona. They were reportedly working in connection with the LAPD. Keya was charged with five counts of elder abuse, false imprisonment, forgery, and fraud. Before he died last November, Stan Lee’s family and others looking out for his best interests accused Keya of attempting to gain control over his financial affairs by isolating him from family and friends. Even Kevin Smith offered to swoop in and save Stan. Stan denied that his “friend” Keya was up to no good. That’s not the story the cops are telling.

The LAPD released a statement regarding Keya’s arrest, and they say that Stan Lee had no protection against “opportunists who could insert themselves into his life and take control of it.” They add that Keya was working a “long con“:

“It had been revealed that no one had clear legal authority to act on Mr. Lee’s behalf; yet, Morgan exerted his control and influence over Lee.”

For example, that control and influence managed to allegedly scam Stan Lee out of $262,000 he earned at an autograph signing in May 2018. This feels like an extra-big bummer when you remember that back in April 2018, several people who attended the Silicon Valley Comic Con claimed on Twitter that Stan’s “handler” (later revealed to be Keya) was seen coaching a very tired-looking Stan Lee how to spell his own name during an autograph signing.

As for that false imprisonment charge, Keya allegedly moved Stan out of his Hollywood Hills home in June 2018 and into a Beverly Hills condo late at night. A few days after that, Stan was removed from Keya’s control after the LAPD arrested Keya for making fake 911 calls. The LAPD says that Keya was attempting to convince Stan Lee he was in danger, and that Keya was looking out for him. Which would also be Keya’s reason for moving Stan into a condo late at night. The LAPD says Keya did all this as part of his long con to control Stan.

AZCentral says that Keya was arrested in Phoenix after the LAPD notified local authorities that Keya’s cellphone was being used at a motel. Police found Keya there with his mother. He’s been extradited back to California. AZCentral reports that Keya now also has an additional charge against him of being a fugitive of justice since he fled the state.

This situation keeps getting more and more dramatic and weird. Hollywood is probably already thinking about who they’ll cast as Keya when this inevitably gets turned into a six-episode HBO series. Based on that mug shot, I’d say Ray Romano should call his agent. No one will even notice that Ray is almost 20 years too old to play Keya. The only thing they’ll be thinking while watching those autograph signing scenes is: “Oh my god, what a piece of shit.”

Pic: Maricopa County Sheriffs Office