Fort Greene Home Contractor Charged With Stealing Nearly $500,000 From Cecil Taylor

A man has been charged with stealing almost half a million dollars from local jazz legend Cecil Taylor, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

The DA says that 54-year-old Noel Muir befriended Taylor after being hired to work on Taylor’s neighbor’s Fort Greene brownstone. Muir accompanied Taylor to Japan last November to help receive an Inamori Foundation Kyoto Award that Taylor had won. It was then that Muir, of Uniondale, NY, allegedly filed paperwork directing 50 million yen ($492,722.55) in Kyoto Award prize money to his company MCAI Construction’s bank account under the false title of “The Cecil Taylor Foundation.” Since then, says the DA, said account has been depleted.

Muir is charged with second degree grand larceny, and could face up to 15 years in prison. In addition to criminal charges, the DA has filed a civil asset forfeiture action against Muir in an attempt to recover Taylor’s money.

“The defendant befriended Mr. Taylor and won his trust, which later made it easier for him to allegedly swindle this vulnerable, elderly and great jazz musician out of his prize money,” says DA Kenneth Thompson. “Mr. Taylor, who is internationally known for the brilliance and beauty of his music should be honored and celebrated and not ripped off. We will now vindicate his rights and fight to get back his money.”