George Soros’ ex-girlfriend has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the billionaire investor, accusing him of failing to follow through on promises to buy her a New York City apartment.
Adriana Ferreyr, a 28-year-old Brazilian former soap opera star, filed the suit against the 80-year-old Soros, who is the founder and chairman of the Open Society Institute, in a Manhattan court on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports.
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Ferreyr accuses Soros of reneging on promises to buy her a Manhattan home, and instead giving a $1.9 million apartment on the Upper East Side to a new girlfriend.
Soros’ lawyer William Zabel told the New York Post that the lawsuit is "frivolous and entirely without merit,” and an attempt to extract money from his client.
"This is obviously nothing more than an attempted shakedown targeting a wealthy man," Michael Vachon, a spokesman for Soros, told the BBC.
"Ferreyr has targeted Mr. Soros with a baseless lawsuit," he said.
The lawsuit accuses Soros of inflicting emotional distress, battery and fraud, the BBC reports.
Ferreyr claims in the lawsuit that Soros slapped her and tried to choke her while the couple were in bed discussing the apartment.
Ferreyr is studying economics and philosophy at Columbia University. The couple met in 2006 in the Hamptons, and she claims that twice during their five-year relationship he said he would buy her a New York apartment.
George Soros is worth $14.5 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
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