Billionaire John Paulson accused a longtime business partner of siphoning $3.4 million in company funds to finance his jet-set lifestyle and diverted millions more to “shell companies” owned by his wife, according to a new lawsuit.
Paulson — who famously reaped billions by shorting the housing market in 2007 — has been embroiled in a bitter legal battle with Fahad Ghaffar, who has worked for the mogul’s Paulson Entitities in Puerto Rico since 2013.
Ghaffar, a senior manager, billed Paulson Entities for $3.4 million in “personal expenses” between 2018 and 2023 that include $147,000 for Louis Vuitton and Chanel shopping sprees, more than $600,000 in private jet travel and $20,000 for a single night at Las Vegas’ Omnia night club, according to the lawsuit filed in Puerto Rico federal court on Monday.
The complaint — filed days after Paulson moved to dismiss Ghaffar’s $50 million lawsuit against him — names the former business partner, his wife Glenda Acevedo-Martinez and five other family members.
Ghaffar also set up multiple shell companies, one owned by his wife to hide $3.2 million and another to embezzle $8 million from another Paulson company, Condado Dua, the lawsuit claims.
The allegations also include claims that Ghaffar loaned his father-in-law, Glen, an Audi Q3 SUV for free, and hired his sister, Saira, as a vendor at St. Regis — a resort owned by the billionaire’s fund Paulson & Co. — where she “inflated the price of the items she sold to the St. Regis in order to pocket additional commissions and/or profits from the inflated costs.”
“In further abuse of his privilege, since at least 2018, Fahad had Paulson pay for the personal cellphones for his household employees, relatives and friends, including maids, his mother and Glenda [Ghaffar’s wife]” — totaling “over $19,000” in costs to the Paulson Entities, the suit added.
The court documents also allege that Ghaffar attempted to discredit a former Paulson Entities employee named Enrique “Ricky” Diaz who had sued Ghaffar for wrongful termination in 2021.
Ghaffar allegedly “devised a plan and offered [an] investigator $60,000 to plant a kilo of cocaine in Ricky’s car,” according to Diaz’s lawsuit, which Paulson’s legal team cited in their complaint to highlight Ghaffar’s alleged “pattern of racketeering.”
Ghaffar had planned to plant the drugs, “call the authorities, and have the authorities arrest and indict Ricky for narcotics possession,” Paulson’s complaint claimed.
Paulson is seeking some $190 million in damages for Ghaffar’s alleged violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which was put into place in 1970 to take down organized crime organizations.
“The complaint demonstrates the vast extent of Ghaffar’s misconduct for which we will hold him accountable,” Terrence and Darren Oved of the law firm Oved & Oved — co-counsel for Paulson PRV Holdings and John Paulson’s related entities — told The Post.
Ghaffar’s lawyer Martin Russo told The Post the complaint “a publicity stunt.”
“The fact that Paulson leads with Civil RICO indicates the weakness of his allegations and inability to prove any real misconduct. We look forward to dismantling their lawsuit and vindicating Mr. Ghaffar and his family,” Russo said after The Post’s story was published.
Monday’s lawsuit is just the latest in the rift between Paulson and his ex-business partner.
Last month, Ghaffar slapped Paulson with a $50 million lawsuit over allegations of fraud and breach of contract.
In the complaint filed in federal court, Ghaffar claimed he invested $17 million into Paulson’s F40 car company in 2022 that would be converted into a 50% equity stake, though Paulson and his attorneys “continued to misrepresent” Ghaffar’s ownership in the car dealership venture.
Ghaffar was also allegedly set to earn an additional 10% for his work for the company.
Around Aug. 18, 2023, Ghaffar claims Paulson emailed him to “remove him from all positions with F40” despite Paulson just having confirmed Ghaffar’s role as F40’s president and CEO in an email with Hyundai de San Juan.
Paulson bashed the lawsuit as “destructive and disrespectful behavior,” and banned Ghaffar from the duo’s luxury properties in Puerto Rico, citing a video — which can be found on YouTube — of Ghaffar at the Serafina restaurant located the Paulson-owned La Concha Resort.
The Post has sought comment from Ghaffar on the video.
Paulson penned in a memo to all employees of his PRv holding company: “In the video, Fahad, who appears to be in a highly intoxicated state, is seen breaking glasses, pushing employees, and smashing and throwing chairs.”
He continued: “This type of destructive and disrespectful behavior would not be tolerated from any customer let alone a person with managerial responsibility… Such reprehensible behavior, as demonstrated by Fahad, will not be tolerated by anyone at our properties.”
The memo, sent on Sept. 13, put an immediate ban on Ghaffar “from using any of our restaurants, facilities, or venues at La Concha Hotel, the Vanderbilt Hotel, the Condado Beach Club, the St. Regis Hotel and the Bahia Beach Resort. Security at all properties have been notified.”