Brittany Murphy's Husband Simon Monjack Labeled A CON ARTIST

Brittany Murphy and Factory Girl executive producer and writer Simon Monjack shocked friends and family in April by marrying after only four months of dating. The couple skipped the proposal and honeymoon, exchanging Neil Lane rings in a private L.A. home with only their families present. But now Murphy's inner circle is growing concerned about her new man's history before he swept Murphy, 29, off her feet.

Among his troubles: two warrants for his arrest in Virginia for alleged credit-card theft and fraud; an unpaid $6,087 legal bill, and a $502,910 judgment against him by a British investment firm.

And Us Weekly reports in its new issue that Monjack gave his former fiancée, British film producer Taira Rafiq, an engagement ring he had told her was a diamond but was, in fact, cubic zirconia. "Taira tried to get in touch with Brittany to warn her," a Rafiq pal tells Us. He also was jailed earlier this year for overstaying his tourist visa, and Murphy, 29, had to bail him out. "Simon began pushing for marriage, since he was going to be deported," says a source, adding that Murphy paid for her own engagement ring

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