Kanye West’s signature forged in alleged New York Fashion Week scam

Kanye West making an appearance at an event for New York Fashion Week makes perfect sense, but designer Philipp Plein was reportedly duped out of $750,000 after he was lead to believe he was booking the rapper to do just that.

Plein reportedly began negotiations to book West to walk the show's red carpet, attend the show itself, perform three songs with an orchestra and stay for dinner, all while dressed in pieces from Plein's line. According to documents obtained by The Blast, frequent collaborator Malik Yusef was the one who made the deal. Sources allege that a series of wire transfers were sent to Donda S. House Inc - the foundation West created in his late mother's name - as well as Burduni Partlow Consulting, despite the fact that West was reportedly completely unaware of the deal. The paperwork reportedly contained Malik Yusef's signature alongside a stamp of Kanye West's signature.

As news of the appearance started to make the rounds on social media, wife Kim Kardashian was quick to shut it down. “He’s not performing at any fashion show this season. Just a rumor,” she said in a tweet.

Reps for the designer also shared their thoughts about the situation via an official statement. “We were beyond excited to work with [Kanye West] but unfortunately an individual pretended to be part of his management team and acted without Kanye’s knowledge, capitalizing on a former friendship with him," A rep for Phillip Plein told The Blast. "Unfortunately, we too were affected by this misrepresentation.”

Thumbnail image via AFP Photo/Patrick Kovarik.