Comedian Dane Cook’s half-brother Darryl McCauley infamously embezzled $12 million from him — and later stashed some of the stolen cash in jars of tomato sauce, a new documentary has revealed.
The bizarre hiding spot was exposed in a new trailer for the documentary titled Funny Money: The Dane Cook Story, which will explore McCauley’s betrayal of his brother during the height of the actor’s fame.
“There were bricks of hundreds in all the tomato sauce,” a voiceover said in the teaser, over a scene recreating money wrapped in plastic being removed from a container of pasta sauce — just like the unbelievable plotline in The Bear.
It was also revealed that McCauley hid the rest of the money in a safe.
During the early years of Cook’s career, McCauley worked as his business manager, handling “every aspect of every penny that came in,” another voiceover added.
Cook is known for his observational, vulgar and occasionally dark stand-up routines. He found fame in the early 2000s with his hit comedy albums Harmful If Swallowed (2003) and Retaliation (2005), the release of his 2006 HBO standup special Vicious Circle, and roles in romcoms, like Employee of the Month (2006), Good Luck Chuck (2007) and My Best Friend’s Girl (2008).
“Once [Cook] started going platinum, everything changed,” a voice narrated in the trailer, followed by a separate explaining, “Initially, withdrawals for $20,000 became withdrawals for $50,000, wires of $100,000.”
Describing his brother as “a person that spent so much time pretending to be something he wasn’t,” Cook added: “I was starting to feel something different that I couldn’t really identify. Was he hiding it in different places? Stockpiling this money?”
McCauley, a former corrections officer, pleaded guilty in 2010 to embezzlement, larceny and forgery. His wife, Erika, also pleaded guilty to larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny in connection with her husband’s multi-million dollar embezzlement scheme.
The pair were sentenced to time in prison, with McCauley serving six years and Erika serving two and a half. They were both sentenced to several years of probation after their respective releases, and ordered to pay $12 million in restitution to Cook.
McCauley has since disappeared after being released from prison.
“I do believe that there’s more money out there. I believe there’s people that know more,” Cook concluded in the trailer. “Where is he? What has he done? How does this end?”
Funny Money: The Dane Cook Story will be available to stream on demand beginning September 29.
