Harry Potter stuntwoman ‘pocketed £50k off her fellow stars’

London: An actress and stuntwoman who was working on the Harry Potter series allegedly pocketed 50,000 pounds meant for her co-stars in a new British movie.

River George claims she did not pass on the money he gave her to fellow actors in Tribe, a drama about gipsies featuring Seventies heartthrob David Essex. George, whose real name is Laura Bowden, is said to have been given the funds in her role as producer on the film. However, some members of the cast said they never received payment and financier Charles Cooper said he had to dip into his own pocket to pay the actors. According to legal documents, on December 7, 2010, Cooper made out a cheque to Ms Bowden for 25,000 pounds “for the express purpose of paying actors’ and contractors’ wages for work on the film,” reports a daily. The next day, she told Cooper that the cheque had failed to clear and that the actors were threatening to walk off the set unless they received their wages. Cooper then immediately transferred 25,000 pounds into Bowden’s account on the condition that the cheque would be cancelled. However, on December 31, Cooper discovered that both the cheque and the transfer had been successfully paid into Bowden’s account yet the actors had still not been paid. Cooper has now initiated legal action against Bowden. ANI