A lawsuit filed by hedge fund mogul Mark Lasry alleges that a former female executive at his company tried to extort him out of $50 million by threatening to spread false allegations about the company.
According to a complaint filed Friday in New York state court, Avenue Capital Group’s co-founder says that if Gina Strum doesn’t hand over the money, Lasley and his company will get “really, really ugly.” ” was accused of threatening him.
Mr. Stram served as senior vice president and then managing director at Mr. Lasry’s Park Avenue company from 2009 to 2013, according to public records.
Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry holds up the 2021 NBA Championship trophy. NBAE (via Getty Images)
Mr. Lasley, 65, a former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and a major Democratic fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris, alleges in the lawsuit that Avenue accused Mr. Stram of making false accusations about the company in 2013. After threatening him, he said he gave him severance pay. .
The company, which Mr. Lasry co-founded with his sister Sonia Gardner, offered to retain Mr. Stram as a consultant “rather than face the undue repercussions of publicizing the false accusations” if he was unable to find another job, according to the complaint. He reportedly agreed to do so.
But his contact with Lasry over the past 10 years has been “private, obsessive, and simply inappropriate,” the suit says.
“Plaintiffs were distressed by Ms. Stram’s conduct because they believed that if they did not do so, she would carry out her malicious threats and cause harm,” the complaint states. “In hindsight, my decision to engage with Ms. Stram and comply with her request was misguided. Ms. Stram was unable (or unwilling) to find another job and was always on the Avenue. He came back asking for money.”
Mr Lasry’s former managing director is said to have called him a “love bug”. Bloomberg via Getty Images
Stram, who earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1999, according to his LinkedIn account, allegedly sent creepy emails and text messages to Lasley, who is married.
In one message she wrote: “Black and navy are your colors. I remember the first time I met you… you were wearing a black turtleneck and you started sweating,” according to the complaint.
In another article, Stram is quoted as saying, “You are the love of my life.”
Lasry is a major fundraiser for the Democratic Party and has long supported Kamala Harris. AP
Her attorney, Daniel Kaiser, disputed this claim, telling Bloomberg News that the lawsuit is “a blatantly fabricated retaliation and a continuation of an attempt to control and harass Ms. Stram.” did.
The newspaper reached out to Stram and Kaiser for comment.
While working for the company, Mr. Stram accompanied Mr. Lasry to collect funds from pensions, including those of the Philadelphia and New Hampshire Retirement Systems, according to public records.
Chelsea Clinton worked for Lasry’s company from 2006 to 2009. Hearst Getty Images
According to his LinkedIn account, Stram founded his own company, Calamos Avenue Management, in 2019.
That same year, Stram and Avenue agreed to pay her $750,000 as part of her consulting work, the complaint states. But after Stram was paid the final installment of that contract earlier this year, she “repeatedly made outrageous threats,” according to the lawsuit.
An Avenue spokesperson told the Post: Strum has repeatedly threatened to tarnish the reputations of Mr. Lasry, Mr. Avenue, and Mr. Gardner with malicious intent to destroy their business. This lawsuit aims to end that. ”
Avenue, which specializes in buying distressed assets, has $12 billion in assets under management.
The company famously employed Chelsea Clinton, the former president’s daughter and former secretary of state, from 2006 to 2009.
