U2 bassist Adam Clayton is $3.6-million poorer after being ripped off by a former aide, The Associated Press reports. Carol Hawkins, a woman the Irish soft-rocker had given “access to his bank accounts purely so she could pay bills related to his Georgian mansion, Danesmoate, in south Dublin” ended up spending almost three-million Euros over four years on pricey plane tickets, university courses for her children and an inordinate number of racehorses.
Amongst the damages was a pair of plane tickets to Miami that cost €19,285.08 ($24,420) and another trip to Cincinnati, Ohio that cost her €16,139.66 ($20,438). Man, you couldn’t pay me 16-grand to travel to Cincy—but then again, she was spending someone else’s money.
Hawkins was found guilty today by an Irish jury of a whopping 181(!) counts and will be sentenced July 6th. As Judge Patrick McCartan said, “The evidence in this case was overwhelming. Nobody could seriously disagree with the verdict you have given.” I guess Clayton will hafta choose his hired help more wisely next time…
That said, Hawkins’ massive spending spree shouldn’t put too much of a dent in the bass-player’s bank account. Wikipedia lists U2’s 360º Tour as the highest-grossing concert series of all time, bringing in a staggering $736,421,586 from ’09 to 2011. Split four ways, that’s $184,105,396.50—or enough dough for 9,008 flights to Cincinnati. 
