Jamie Spears faces FBI probe after being accused of 'crossing unfathomable lines' over 'horrifying and unconscionable' claims he set up surveillance system in Britney's BEDROOM
Britney Spears' father Jamie Spears could be investigated by the FBI after it was claimed that he hired a security company to monitor his daughter's communications - including what went on in her bedroom - without her knowledge or consent.
On Monday Deadline reported that the FBI are looking into whether the law was broken, with Jamie Spears insisting his daughter knew of the surveillance arrangements.
Under Californian law, both parties must consent to a conversation being recorded.
They have triggered a furious response from Britney's lawyers who say the allegations are further evidence as to why her conservatorship should be urgently ended.
'Mr. Spears has crossed unfathomable lines,' said the singer's lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, in a court filing on Monday in advance of a hearing on the conservatorship scheduled for Wednesday.
'While they are not evidence, the allegations warrant serious investigation, certainly by Ms. Spears as, among other things, California is a 'two-party' consent state.'
His furious remarks were a reference to a New York Times documentary released on Hulu Friday detailing the surveillance claims.
Alex Vlasov, a former employee of Black Box Security, told The New York Times in a new documentary that the 39-year-old Spears's phone calls and messages were secretly recorded as part of her 13-year conservatorship, overseen by her father.
Britney Spears, pictured in July 2019, had her calls, texts, photos, notes and browsing history monitored, according to a new New York Times documentary
Jamie Spears (left) was accused by security agent Alex Vlasov (right) of keeping his daughter in 'a prison' and watching her every move
Rosengart further told the paper that the allegations made by Vlasov warranted urgent inquiry.
He said it was yet further evidence of the mistreatment of the singer, who on June 23 told the court she was forced to have birth control implants; was forbidden from driving her car; and had no say in her most basic life decisions.
'Placing a listening device in Britney's bedroom would be particularly inexcusable and disgraceful, and corroborates so much of her compelling, poignant testimony.
'These actions must be fully and aggressively investigated.'
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He said in Monday's court documents that he intends to depose the 69-year-old, and that if he plead the Fifth Amendment it would be damning.
It is unclear whether the court which managed the conservatorship had approved the recordings.
Britney Spears has not commented on the specific allegations that she was secretly recorded, but in an Instagram post on Monday said that the documentary, Controlling Britney Spears, had many factual errors.
'I watched a little bit of the last documentary and I hate to inform you but a lot of what you heard is not true!!!' she said.
Yet Vlasov, who worked for the security company for eight years until he resigned in April over the secret recordings, insisted that she was subjected to invasive surveillance. He said he quit when the singer told the court that she had not consented to the control, and he felt it was morally unacceptable to be part of it.
'It really reminded me of somebody that was in prison,' said Vlasov, 30.
'And security was put in a position to be the prison guards essentially.'
He said that he was told she was being monitored for her own safety, and that she wanted to be protected.
Yet he grew increasingly alarmed.
Vlasov told the paper that the iCloud account on her phone was mirrored on an iPad and later on an iPod.
The communications - text messages, notes, FaceTime calls, browser history and photographs - would be taken from the iPad and iPod, encrypted, and then sent to Jamie Spears and Robin Greenhill, an employee of Tri Star Sports & Entertainment Group, the former business manager for the singer's estate.
'Her own phone and her own private conversations were used so often to control her,' Vlasov said.
He said that conversations with her mother, boyfriends and court-appointed lawyers were all recorded, and provided screenshots of them to The Times.
Mathew Rosengart, Britney Spears's lawyer, said the allegations of monitoring her communications were deeply disturbing
Britney Spears is pictured in June 2015 with her father, Jamie
Vlasov said that he was given a USB drive and told to delete the contents urgently but, growing suspicious, made a copy and discovered 180 hours of conversations recorded from her own bedroom.
'I had them tell me what was on it,' Vlasov said.
'They seemed very nervous and said that it was extremely sensitive, that nobody can ever know about this and that's why I need to delete everything on it, so there's no record of it. That raised so many red flags with me and I did not want to be complicit in whatever they were involved in, so I kept a copy, because I don't want to delete evidence.'
When Britney was taken to a mental health facility in 2019, she was legally free to leave at any time, yet Vlasov said that she repeatedly said she felt she was there involuntarily.
She tried to get a new lawyer to represent her, but warned a prospective lawyer that her security team would be suspicious if he showed up, and block him. She suggested he claim to be a plumber, but he refused to go along with her plan.
The lawyer confirmed the account to The Times.
Furthermore, the singer's boyfriends were the subject of intense scrutiny, and were followed in case evidence emerged of their 'misleading' her.
Spears is pictured in April 2018 with her fiance Sam Asghari, an Iranian personal trainer and actor
'There was an obsession with the men in Britney's life,' Vlasov said.
Her boyfriends were required to sign strict nondisclosure agreements.
Vlasov said that Spears' fiance, Sam Asghari, was made to sign an agreement in 2020 which banned him from making social media posts about her.
Spears's ex-husband Kevin Federline, who she was married to from October 2004 to July 2007, and with whom she has two teenage sons, said through his lawyer that he was horrified by the allegations made by Vlasov.
Mark Vincent Kaplan said that Federline would never consent to the conversations between Sean Preston, 16, and Jayden James, 15, and their mother being recorded.
The boys are minors and therefore could not themselves give permission to be recorded.
Kevin Federline, Spears's ex-husband, said that the allegations were 'pretty outrageous'
'I think that would be pretty outrageous and Kevin would be upset about that,' Kaplan told Page Six.
He said that both he and Federline were unaware of the allegations of eavesdropping until the documentary was aired on Friday.
'It would be extremely inappropriate for a parent, let alone a grandparent, to clandestinely procure recordings between a parent and their children.
'Regardless of whether or not the grandfather, in this case, Jamie is a conservator or not.'
A lawyer for Jamie Spears said: 'All of his actions were well within the parameters of the authority conferred upon him by the court.
'His actions were done with the knowledge and consent of Britney, her court-appointed attorney, and/or the court.
'Jamie's record as conservator — and the court's approval of his actions — speak for themselves.'
A lawyer for the former management firm denied they had been involved in the alleged scheme.
'These allegations are not true.
'Ms. Greenhill was only involved in Ms. Spears' security to the extent Ms. Spears requested her involvement, as well as Tri Star's role of issuing the payments to the security company.'
Edan Yemini, the chief executive and founder of Black Box Security, insisted that they had done nothing wrong.
In a statement, his lawyer said, 'Mr. Yemini and Black Box have always conducted themselves within professional, ethical and legal bounds, and they are particularly proud of their work in keeping Ms. Spears safe for many years.'
Yet Rosengart, Spears's lawyer, said that the allegations strengthened the argument for dissolving the conservatorship entirely.
Jamie Spears last month said himself, in court filings, that he thought the arrangement had run its course and should be ended at Wednesday's hearing.
Judge Brenda Penny, presiding over the Los Angeles Superior Court proceedings, will decide on Wednesday the next steps for the controversial arrangement.
Rosengart is seeking separate hearings to look into how Spears' multimillion-dollar fortune was spent.
On Tuesday Netflix will launch its Britney Vs Spears documentary looking into the cash.
Lawyers for the star insisted on Monday that the conservatorship should be immediately ended, and Jamie Spears's role concluded.
'As a result of these deeply-disturbing allegations, Mr. Spears will inevitably be focused over the next several days and weeks on defending his own interests not his daughter's (yet again),' it adds.
'And regardless of the outcome of the allegations, what cannot be genuinely disputed is how deeply upsetting they are to Ms. Spears and if nothing else, they magnify the need to suspend Mr. Spears immediately.'
Spears is pictured in April 2018 at the GLAAD Media Awards in Beverly Hills
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