Saturday, October 10, 2015

Spurned Socialite To Judge: My Ex-Hubby's Stiffing Me Out Of My Divorce Settlement, So Slap A Lien On His $12.7M NYC Condo So I Can Unload It & Give Him & His New Wife The Boot

In New York City, the New York Post reports:
  • A socialite involved in a bitter split with her playboy former husband is asking a Manhattan judge to award her the $12.7 million pied-à-terre he now shares with his second wife — a much young­er, shapely blonde named Inga.

    Ashley Kozel’s scorched-earth divorce case against her former spouse, ex-Gulf Keystone Petroleum CEO Todd Kozel, revealed that he entertained clients at strip clubs and that he showered $10,000 worth of Prada and Versace on a Lithuanian mistress during their marriage.

    But when it comes to giving money to his ex, Todd has used every trick in his accountant’s book to avoid paying her $38 million settlement, according to ­Ashley’s new Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.

    Todd, a University of London grad who founded Texas Keystone and the Falcon Drilling Company, “uses a sophisticated chain of offshore entities to shield his assets from the reach of creditors, such as his former wife,” the suit says.

    The Florida court where Ashley, 47, sued Todd, 48, for divorce after 18 years of a marriage has previously issued an asset injunction against the oil titan.

    The judge found that Todd ­“attempted to make transfers of well in excess of $100 million in marital assets to undermine the judgment and authority of the Florida Court,” according to the Manhattan filings.

    So now Ashley’s going after a harder-to-move asset — a 3,800-square-foot condo in Chelsea’s Walker Tower.

    Her suit says Todd and current wife Inga, a 29-year-old with model looks, use the $14.7 million apartment even though he claims to live in Lithuania — out of the reach of US courts.

    “If he wants to write a check [to compensate Ashley for the pad], then I don’t need to have the apartment sold,” said Ashley’s lawyer, Stephen Meister.

    “If he doesn’t, I’m going to sell the apartment,” Meister warned.

    Ashley’s suit asks the judge to place a lien on the apartment, which is owned by an LLC controlled by Todd. The spurned spouse also wants to prevent her ex from removing or selling any of the furnishings inside the 14th-floor unit.

    During Todd’s deposition, he admitted to plunking down $10,320 on designer duds for his girlfriend during just one month in 2007. He also copped to paying a $5,100 strip-club tab, explaining, “When we do it, we take a lot of people and do it properly,” according to an article by the UK-based Independent newspaper.

    Todd did not respond to messages seeking comment.