Tony Bennett's Daughters Accuse Brother of Trust 'Mismanagement,' Claim He Paid Himself $2.6 Million in Commissions

Months after filing suit against their brother Danny, Tony Bennett’s daughters say he’s been mismanaging their late father’s funds for years — and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the family trust.

Tony’s daughters Antonia and Johanna Bennett first filed suit against Danny in June over assets in their dad’s estate that were unaccounted for after his death in July 2023 at age 96. Both daughters are beneficiaries of The Tony Bennett 1994 Family Trust, as is their brother Dae, while Danny is sole trustee.

In November, Danny filed a motion looking to transfer the petition to surrogate’s court or dismiss it — and on Jan. 3, Antonia and Johanna hit back in a motion asking the court to deny Danny’s request, saying they have “serious concerns” about the “mismanagement” of his role as trustee.

“Danny acted in multiple, conflicting fiduciary capacities for an extended period prior to Tony’s death and took (for himself and his children) significant funds from the Family Trust,” their filing, which was obtained by PEOPLE, says. “Moreover, as publicized by Danny to various media outlets, at some point prior to Tony’s death, Tony entered a phase of diminished capacity, which means Tony was no longer able to act as co-Trustee, leaving Danny to serve as sole Trustee of the Family Trust with no oversight.”

PEOPLE reached out to Danny’s attorney for comment.

A source close to Danny tells PEOPLE, “Tony and Danny Bennett have worked together for over 40 years, and the record of their successful partnership speaks for itself. Tony thoughtfully planned his estate to reflect his wishes and generously provided for his loved ones. Danny has always acted in Tony’s best interest and has worked diligently to ensure his father’s plans were honored and carried out. It is unfortunate and sad that some are choosing to dispute his decisions rather than honoring Tony’s legacy.”

Antonia and Johanna’s filing says they have a right to an accounting of Danny’s actions both before and after Tony’s death, as he was essentially acting unsupervised and they feel as though there’s been a “lack of transparency.”

“[Tony] expressed a clear intention and direction in his estate plans that all four of his children be treated equally,” their filing says.

Tony’s daughters allege that Danny cut checks using trust funds “as he saw fit,” and that in 2022, he made “multiple gifts to himself” using trust funds that amounted to $200,700. They also allege that he took advances of $50,000 each month on top of the commissions he earned as Tony’s business manager as early as 2021, despite things not being formally agreed upon until 2022.

In 2022, Danny helped orchestrate a sale of Tony’s assets to Iconoclast, which he allegedly claimed to have done because Tony was “in financial trouble.” But the daughters’ filing says that per records, Tony “still had millions of dollars” when the deal was made, and that despite saying his father was running out of money, Danny continued to “make gifts to himself and his children with Family Trust assets.” The filing says Danny’s company RPM received almost $2.6 million in commissions, while Johanna and Antonia have each only received $245,000 each from the trust.

“Without more information about Tony’s income, it is unclear whether the payments Danny was making to himself exceed what was contractually owed to him,” it says. “Statements and management agreements provided by Danny indicate that commissions paid to [his company, RPM Productions] appear to have been much higher than they should have been based on Tony’s income.”

Tony created the trust in 1994, and Danny and Dae were named co-trustees. The crooner amended the trust in 2008, and Danny and Tony became co-trustees.

Dae and Tony’s widow Susan Bendetto are named as respondents in the daughters’ suit. They’re accused of “avoid[ing] accountability for Danny’s actions” because they’ve argued that Johanna and Antonia “lack standing” to see an accounting for the period before Tony’s death, and that their request to see it from the period after his death is “premature.”