OJ SIMPSON may have died with millions of dollars of money and assets secretly tucked away in offshore accounts so he wouldn't have to pay any of the $114 million he owes to the families of the murder victims.
In a leaked audio tape obtained by The U.S. Sun, a pal of OJ's named Bruce Froming can be heard saying he helped the NFL star "set up offshore accounts" in a bid to avoid paying compensation to the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown.
Simpson, who died from cancer on Thursday, lost a wrongful death civil suit that was brought against him by the Goldman and Brown families back in 1997, and was ordered to pay them $33.5 million in damages, which then increased over the years.
OJ never paid any of the money directly to the Goldmans or Browns - although they received proceeds from his infamous book If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer.
The audio tape now sheds doubt on whether the star, nicknamed The Juice, was ever truthful about his financial situation while he was alive.
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The Goldman's collection lawyer David Cook last night told The U.S. Sun that he heard many stories over the years of OJ hiding his money away.
"OJ Simpson has said, 'I will not give a goddamn nickel to Fred Goldman never, ever, ever', so if he's going to die of cancer - most people who die of cancer don't die tomorrow it takes a fair amount of time - so it would be my guess that he hid it very well so that when he dies, the Goldmans get nothing," he said.
"I'm not saying I know that, but dealing with OJ Simpson and hearing him saying 'I will not pay this guy a godd**n dime' when he was alive, I think he'd do the same thing when he's dead."
Work associate Tom Riccio, who made the secret recording mentioning the offshore accounts, also agreed, telling The U.S. Sun, OJ “probably” did hide his money from the grief stricken families.
The dramatic audio was taken by Riccio just seconds after OJ and armed pals held up memorabilia collector Fromong at gunpoint as he tried to recover sporting mementoes he believed were stolen.
Livid Fromong, still in shock from the robbery, can be heard blurting out to fellow collector Al Beardsley that he helped him OJ " set up his f***ing offshore accounts."
'DON'T F**K WITH ME'
On the audio tape, Fromong can also be heard making threats to OJ as retaliation for the showdown which happened at the Palace Station Casino in Las Vegas on September 13, 2007.
Fromong said during an expletive laden outburst: "Nobody puts a gun in my f***ing face.
"I stood up for the motherf***er while he was in jail, I stood up for him in the press, I stood up for him on the stand.
"I helped him set up his f***ing offshore accounts.
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"Don’t f*** with me. It’s not over. It’s not f***ing over."
Fromong, who declined to comment when approached by The U.S. Sun, gave vital prosecution testimony in finding OJ guilty of the robbery in 2008.
Parts of Riccio's audio recording were also used at the trial.
Then Fromong was a key witness during OJ's Vegas 2017 release parole hearing, telling authorities he had forgiven the star and insisted he was a "good man."
The allegation about the offshore accounts came at a time when the Goldman family were desperately hunting for the former running back's earnings after they won a civil case victory over the death of their son Ron.
Simpson barely paid any of the debt, despite the Goldmans employing lawyers to pursue him for years.
Attorney Cook, who has worked for the Goldmans since 2008, said he'd never been able to track down any cash.
"I've heard a lot of stories that OJ has money hidden away - I've been hearing that since back in 2008 and 2009 and lawyers have been looking for his money even before that," he said.
"So yes people are talking about that - we've heard repeatedly that there's money out there.
"Whether or not there is money out there is a different matter, I haven't seen it.
"Over the years I've had people calling me telling me they have stuff belonging to him in a storage facility or hidden here or there - we hear it all the time.
"Just because I haven't been able to find it, doesn't mean somebody doesn't have it.
We've heard repeatedly that there's money out there.
David Cook, Goldman's collections attorney
"There is still a judgement out of Los Angeles against him, this judgment is now worth $114 million.
"The only way we got any money from the judgement was through the If I did It book. We were able to have it published and we were able to get number 2 of the New York Times bestseller list and we got money for that.
"We got a little bit of money out of the movies, and some out of the bankruptcy hearings in Florida, but none of it directly came from OJ Simpson.
"Now he's dead we'd have to hire a whole bunch of lawyers to figure out if whether he has any money in a trust or in probate or with someone else, whether he gave to his children. We do not know until we get a lawyer to look into it. God only knows."
Riccio, who set up memorabilia and signing money making opportunities for the NFL icon, was named by Simpson several times as being the main reason why he perpetrated robbery and kidnap in 2007, which lead him to be convicted to a 33 year jail sentence.
Speaking exclusively Riccio, said: “I really don't know if OJ hid the money. He never told me that. But it wouldn't surprise me...
“I felt bad that the Goldmans lost their son, but it was a full-time job chasing down everybody that OJ did business with trying to get their money...
“They [the Goldman lawyers] went after me. I spent many, many hours answering their questions about how much I paid him. I told them I didn’t know where OJ’s money was. I did a couple of signings and I don’t know what he did with the money."
Riccio said Simpson loathed the Goldmans for chasing him for any of his earnings - and hated that they got the proceeds from his book.
“OJ wanted nothing to do with it, but he said they kept upping the money and at $800,000 he finally agreed with conditions that he edit some of it...," he said.
“I believe the Goldmans got the money [from the book] in the end. OJ hated that, he called them ‘the Gold-diggers.’ But he talked about them all the time, which I have mixed emotions about. If my son got killed, I’d be really upset with the guy too.”
“But during my time with him I never heard him once say he was wrong about anything...He was the Juice. He believed everything he did is correct.
Tom Riccio, OJ Simpson associate
Riccio admits that Simpson was a unique character, who even hinted within his business circles that he may have killed his ex wife and her boyfriend.
'HOMICIDAL PSYCHOTIC'
“I knew OJ, more than most people do, and to be known by the worst day you ever had is horrific. I believe when you hear the backstory of him on Prozac, which can make you have suicidal or homicidal thoughts, and with all the other things he was doing, he was turning into a potential homicidal psychotic.
“But according to his agents, he sort of remembered it [the murders] as a dream.
“He told people, ‘I had a dream that I did this, but I didn't think it was real.’
"So he was not adamant it with it. And it's not an excuse. But a sober OJ in his regular mind, never would do something like that. The man that I knew, but I'm not making excuses. If he did it, he did it. It's a horrible thing to kill two people.
“I don't know how I'd be able to live with myself.”
MOST DESPISED PERSON
He continued: “It is sad thinking about OJ for me. 'When I was a child, OJ was my number one hero. And now he is legacy will be one of the most despised person on the planet,
Riccio says he showed no remorse for the Las Vegas robbery and kidnapping, which saw him spend nine years of his 33 year sentence in jail.
“OJ didn't show remorse at the parole hearing. Sure he said he was sorry a few times, but he had an excuse for everything.
“But during my time with him I never heard him once say he was wrong about anything. That is what he is like.
“He was the Juice. He believed everything he did is correct.
Riccio is planning to make a movie about his controversies with Simpson in a new movie about his own life, based on his memoir Busted.
Riccio says that LA-based production house Appian Way Productions, founded by actor and producer Leonardo DiCaprio, have a script in development and writer Paul Tamasay, who penned The Fighter, has overseen a script.
"With this news [of OJ's death], I don't know how that's going to affect it, but I would think it would probably, depending on the interest in this, it would probably actually move it along," he said.
“The movie starts out with the robbery and OJ yelling: ‘Don't let anybody steal my s**t’; and put a gun to my head, And a voiceover of me saying, I don't know how I keep getting into this trouble."
