Hedge fund manager's assistant who stole nearly $1m from her boss is now asking strangers to help her avoid jail by raising the money to pay back him back



A hedge fund manager's assistant has now turned to social media in order to raise the hundreds of thousands of dollars she has to pay him in restitution after pleading guilty of grand larceny.

Renata Shamrokova, the 28-year-old personal assistant to Nicky Hilton’s former husband, admitted in court that she stole nearly $1million from him.

Now she is trying to raise the first portion of the mandated $821,000 in restitution that she has to give back to Meister in order to avoid spending a year or two in jail.

Social media survival: Renata Shamrokova is trying to raise the first portion of the mandated $821,000 she has to give back to her former boss in order to avoid spending a year or two in jail

Expensive taste: She tried to spend some of the stolen money on starting up a jewelery curating business called Karat & Ice which she called a 'trusted carrier of authentic quality designer merchandise'

She has posted an appeal on Go Fund Me, a crowdsourcing site, where she wrote out an emotional plea and posted a black-and-white photo of herself covering her mouth.

'I was held in prison for 13 days without proper medical care or a voice to speak out,' she wrote on the site.

'Some people reading this may think that it is not the best way to raise restitution funds, but I am hopeful that someone will see past the media blitz and conclude that I deserve a second chance to restart my life while there is still an opportunity to do so.

'I am prepared for the backlash and even the opinions of those who think very little of me but am hoping for a rare kind of person to see the potential and be able to provide monetary help.'

In court she confessed to taking out two American Express cards in Meister's name and spending $900,000 traveling to Aruba, Canada, France and Italy.

New Yorker Todd Meister, who is well known on the New York party scene, famously married Paris Hilton's younger sister Nicky (right) in Las Vegas in 2004 after they dated for three months

She also bought thousands of pieces of jewelery which she then sold online for cash and paid off the credit cards by writing checks from her lover's JPMorgan account without his knowledge.

The Ukranian-born swindler spent the money while working as his assistant between March 2011 and January 2012 - and while no court records have identified her employer - it is a well-known fact that it was Meister.

In addition, she tried to spend some of the stolen money on starting up a jewelery curating business called Karat & Ice which she called a 'trusted carrier of authentic quality designer merchandise.'

In court, she tried to argue that she was in a relationship with Mr Meister, but he denied that, saying: ‘The women I date are far more highly educated.’

Renata Shamrakova leaves court last year with her attorney after denying stealing money from Todd Meister - who was once married to Nicky Hilton - Paris Hilton's sister

The New York Daily News reports that Shamrokova needs to raise $425,000 before December 20 in order to avoid jailtime, and then she will be allowed to raise the rest of the money by March 2015.

She writes that her parents have taken drastic steps to help her and have put their property in upstate New York up for sale.