The heiress to one of Canada’s wealthiest families is suing her former best friend — who “lost everything” and is now an Uber driver, representing herself in court — after a doomed crypto investment allegedly fueled by a pair of psychics’ advice cost them $80 million.
Taylor Thomson, the 66-year-old middle child of the billionaire Thomson family, and Ashley Richardson, a 47-year-old once-affluent California mom, were the best of friends who enjoyed living it up in Los Angeles after first meeting at a 2009 house party in Malibu.
The rosy relationship, however, collapsed in 2022 when their psychic advisers pointed them to invest in a crypto token that crashed within a year.
Thomson accused her friend of making hundreds of thousands of risky trades behind her back and only using her for her wealth, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Richardson denied the allegations and blamed the billionaire — who she claimed once hit on her — for destroying their friendship and leaving her struggling to make ends meet.
“Because of you I have lost everything, and you decided to sue the person who had nothing left to lose,” Richardson said in one of her last messages to Thomson. “I loved you more than anything.”
In their more than 12 years as close friends, Richardson was one of Thomson’s biggest supporters, even going as far as helping the heiress relocate her beloved chickens from Bel Air to Hollywood, according to messages between the two women.
Friends claimed that Thomson, whose family ranks as the third richest clan in the world, had trouble trusting people and could be aggressive when she believed anyone was after her money, the WSJ reported.
She even hired convicted Hollywood private investigator, Anthony Pellicano, to spy on a former nanny whom she suspected of colluding with her daughter’s father during a heated custody battle, according to court documents.
“I want you to do whatever you can to get information on Pamela,” Thomson told Pellicano, according to his 2008 wiretapping trial. “Just get it. I’m not going to ask questions.”
Despite Thomson’s alleged vindictive nature, Richardson told the WSJ she supported her and would try to protect her from these so-called “Takers,” who were after the heiress’s fortune.
Richardson, however, was given that very label following the friends’ failed crypto venture in 2021 and again after the latest allegations.
“After spending years living a lavish lifestyle on Ms. Thomson’s dime, Ms. Richardson has taken her bogus story to the media in an attempt to extract more money from Ms. Thomson — which we know because Ms. Richardson has threatened multiple times she will do just that,” a spokesperson for Thomson told The Post in a statement.
Following the pandemic, Richardson found herself engrossed in the words of celebrity psychic Michelle Whitedove, who recommended that her followers invest in the upcoming Persistence crypto coin.
Richardson brought up the token to Thomson, who grew interested and sought advice from her own psychic, Robert Sabella, an astrologer she regularly consulted with, according to the women’s messages.
“Taylor trusts her own instincts and would use Robert as a sounding board,” Thomson’s spokesman told the WSJ now of their interactions, “but by no means would she make substantial life decisions based on his suggestions.”
After getting the confirmation from Sabella, the two women began investing heavily in Persistence. Richardson put most of her savings into the coin while Thomson poured in more than $40 million.
Richardson claimed that Thomson became overzealous in the spending and reined in the heiress when she suggested spending another $60 million on the token following early success.
Thomson also drafted a letter to her brothers, who own the largest stake in the Thomson fortune, accusing them of restricting her ability to invest the family wealth in the crypto market, the outlet reported.
During their trading spree, Richardson said she spent as much as 20 hours a day researching cryptocurrencies and executing trades for Thomson — at times holding as much as $140 million in her friend’s investment, according to the WSJ.
When the 2022 crypto market crash happened, Richardson lost everything, while Thomson felt betrayed and hired lawyers and consultants to get her money back.
Thomson sued both Richardson and Persistence in 2023, seeking at least $25 million for their alleged role in roping her into the investment as a targeted “whale.”
Thomson and Persistence settled for an undisclosed amount of money, while Richardson is fighting her former friend in court.
Bradley Dizik, president of the Guidepost consulting firm’s tech practice, told the WSJ that in the first half of 2022, Richardson conducted 450,000 trades with the billionaire’s funds, many of which she didn’t authorize and were extremely risky.
He alleges that Thomson lost more than $80 million in crypto investments associated with Richardson’s involvement.
Richardson denies the allegations, claiming she never made a trade without Thomson’s approval and always did her best to “minimize losses.”
She also claims Thomson hired a former FBI agent who works at Guidepost to visit her family.
Richardson said she now makes money as an Uber driver, has applied for food stamps, and is struggling to take care of her dog and the legal work brought on by Persistence’s fall and Thomson’s lawsuit.
Richardson has since filed a countersuit with the help of ChatGPT for $10 million, alleging that Thomson has defamed her with her accusations.
Thomson’s spokesperson denied all the allegations, including one where Richardson claimed that the heiress made a pass at her during a 2019 trip to British Columbia.
One of their final interactions via text saw Richardson, who reportedly fell off the wagon after two years of sobriety, call Thomson a “rich motherf—ing sociopathic b—,” according to the WSJ.
“Send your f—ing goons to take my life. Please, you have destroyed me,” she added.
The post How scion of one of Canada’s richest families dumped, ‘destroyed’ best friend after pumping $80M into doomed crypto deal over psychic’s advice: report appeared first on New York Post.
