Sometimes, people get more than they bargained for when they divorce their spouse. That's the situation Michal Tal is in after trying to divorce her husband of 25 years, Benny. That's because there was so much fraud going on at the parking garage owned by him and two others that those co-owners are now part of the case. Talk about awkward.
Michal Tal actually filed for divorce in 2009, but when a court-appointed accountant started probing the books of Kura River Management, operators of the 60-space New York City garage, one of his partners, David Khoukhachvili, balked and closed the door on the investigation.
"The business generated a substantial cash income, most of which went undeclared for tax purposes," Queens Supreme Court Judge Allan Weiss wrote in a recent decision. In that same decision, Weiss also wrote that he believes that in 2011, the three owners of the garage — Benny, Khoukhachvili and their third partner Shalom Heletz — tried to bilk Michal Tal out of her part of the business. According to the NY Post:
"The men low-balled Benny's $1.6 million share in the garage to a mere $250,000 — and then Benny fled with the cash.
The judge issued an arrest warrant for Benny, and he was dragged into court from his hideout at a friend's apartment.
But by that time, the $250,000 had vanished. Benny told The Post he lost the money in bad investments."
When Michal Tal attempted to sue Khoukhachvili amd Heletz for $7 million, Weiss decicded to bring them in as defendants in the divorce.
For more:
Business partners get roped into divorce battle (NY Post)
Photo by @madridminer/Flickr