Creditor Wants $3M from Nicolas Cage

(CN) - Nicolas Cage is facing another multimillion-dollar lawsuit, this time from a real estate firm that claims the actor owes it nearly $3 million in loans. Red Curb Investments claims Cage and his former accountant, Samuel Levin, talked it into extending more than $5 million in loans by hiding Cage's dire financial straits.

Levin "grossly exaggerated" Cage's assets, understated his liabilities and hid the millions he owes in back taxes, Red Curb claims in Santa Monica Superior Court.

Despite his financial situation, Cage continued to spend extravagantly, while Levin assured Red Curb about Cage's ability to repay it, then suggested that Cage make a series of sketchy investments, the company claims.

Cage and Levin secured the loans with a trust deed on Cage's Bel Air mansion, but did not mention that the property was already subject to a $5 million second trust deed in the name of Country Wide Mortgage Company, making the loans against the home far higher than its worth, Red Curb claims.

Cage and Levin turned to the private lender because they knew that Cage could not borrow from "more conventional sources," Red Curb claims.

Red Curb says Cage and his company, Hancock Park Real Estate, owe $3 million in loans. It also demands $3 million from Levin, claiming his reckless behavior amounted to fraud.

Cage and Levin sued each other this fall, each blaming the other for Cage's massive debt.

Red Curb also sued Levin & Company Management, Beverly Hills Financial Group and Bradley Jones. It is represented by Raymond Johnson and Morse Taylor.

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