US astronaut Buzz Aldrin has filed a lawsuit against two of his three children and a former business manager, accusing them of misusing his finances and falsely claiming he has dementia.
The 88-year-old was part of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 and was the second man to walk on the Moon, following in the footsteps of his colleague Neil Armstrong.
The lawsuit “was filed after his children petitioned to take control of his finances” and also claims that they are preventing him from getting married, says the BBC.
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His son and daughter, Andrew and Janice, asked a judge to name them as his legal guardians, claiming that he is suffering from memory loss, delusions, paranoia and confusion.
They claim their father has made new friends who have been trying to alienate him from his family and that he has been spending money at an “alarming” rate.
The former spaceman has hit back with a lawsuit claiming that the pair had improperly taken control of his finances, including removing large sums of money from his accounts. He wants them to have no control over his financial affairs, social media accounts or the management of his private company Buzz Aldrin Enterprises and his ShareSpace Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to furthering children’s education.
His former manager, Christina Korp, is also accused of fraud, exploitation of the elderly and unjust enrichment.
Aldrin claims his children have been slandering him for years by claiming that he suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and have forbid him to get married.
The two siblings said they were saddened by the “unjustifiable” lawsuit.
“If nothing else, our family is resilient and our ability to work together to solve problems and accomplish great things is strong,” they said in a statement. “We love and respect our father very much and remain hopeful that we can rise above this situation and recover the strong relationship that built this foundation in the first place.”
His eldest son, James, is not involved in the lawsuit.
