Estranged wife of ‘destitute’ private-equity big gripes about $10G monthly allowance

The estranged woman of an aged financier griped successful Manhattan tribunal Tuesday that he gave her a measly allowance of $10,000 a period — past slashed it successful half erstwhile she asked him to commencement his property planning.

Stephanie Foster, 57, added that hubby John H. Foster — an 82-year-old private-equity bigshot now claiming dire financial straits successful their multiyear divorcement proceeding — yet dwindled her allowance to nothing, forcing her to taxable disbursal reports to his guidance institution to get reimbursed.

She complained connected nan guidelines that moreover his first hefty monthly payout to her “was little than what I was making connected commission,” referring to what she raked successful arsenic an finance banker astatine Deutsche Bank earlier giving up her profession six months aft marrying Foster successful 2009.

Stephanie claims that her hubby — who made his luck successful nan medical-device world arsenic managing partner of nan $800 cardinal backstage equity patient HealthPointCapital — trim her allowance successful half astir 5 years ago, erstwhile she asked  for a “modicum” of property planning.

He past eliminated it altogether and made her taxable elaborate disbursal reports to his family guidance institution successful bid to beryllium reimbursed, she said.

Her grounds was an effort to connection a rebuttal to her husband’s claims that, because of her profligate spending connected apparel and different items, he now has a nett worthy his lawyers person described “barely a affirmative nett worth, if astatine all.”

“My hubby is accusing maine of spending down his full $45 cardinal nett worth,” positive nan tens of millions much he earned during their 15-year marriage, “which intends I was spending $1.5 cardinal a period connected myself, connected clothes,” she said.

Stephanie has noted that while her hubby was crying poverty, he still was jetting backmost and distant from Florida to New York City for Botox, hair-dyeing and nail attraction appointments.

She said she only had entree to her individual Chase Bank checking relationship during their marriage.

Shortly earlier nan brace wed successful 2009, Stephanie said, she was presented pinch a pre-nup — which she declined to sign, since it would person near her “with nothing.”

She claimed it included a equilibrium expanse showing John had a nett worthy of $80 cardinal — and she had nary logic to uncertainty it.

“Why would I?” she said connected nan stand. “We were making love for a year, he had a very large lifestyle, he had a Gulfstream jet, he had a private-equity firm, a large ranch successful Texas, a very bully location connected Fishers Island [in New York], and he had been progressive on  Wall Street for 50 years, truthful no, I would person nary logic not to judge him.” 

“Except for nan truth that I was going to beryllium his 3rd wife,” she added. “But that wasn’t a concern.”

Stephanie pegged her husband’s expenses related conscionable to nan properties he owned and rented successful Manhattan, Fishers Island and Palm Beach — positive a sprawling Texas hunting ranch filled pinch exotic, imported African animals — astatine $3.4 cardinal annually.

She claimed that erstwhile she erstwhile asked him astir life insurance, he told her he was “too costly to insure” and that status accounts were for “suckers.”

Meanwhile, her husband’s squad said it is looking into imaginable criminality astir her supplying a photograph she snapped of a matter connection speech connected her husband’s phone, which shows him celebrating a “net-worth strategy” that near Stephanie pinch nan belief that he was bankrupt. 

In nan message, Foster acknowledgment a family lawyer, stating “Your net-worth strategy worked. Steph is stunned,” adding that his woman believes him to beryllium “bankrupt.”

His lawyers Tuesday accused Stephanie of improperly accessing his telephone and of violating her husband’s privateness and attorney-client privilege. 

“Mr. Foster did not consent to Mrs. Foster accessing his backstage communications,” said John’s lawyer, Linda Rosenthal, successful court.

In doing so, she whitethorn person conscionable proven nan authenticity of not conscionable nan matter connection but besides of nan “net-worth strategy” arsenic a ineligible maneuver, which could raise ethical concerns astir John’s net-worth statements fixed nether oath, said Stephanie’s lawyer, BriAnne Copp.

The implications of nan message’s contented did not flight Judge Ta-Tanisha James.

“If that is so authenticated, and if nan constituent thereof is accurate, there’s an denotation that location has been a misdirection … arsenic to Mr. Foster’s connection of nett worthy and furthermore, implicit successful that are issues arsenic to whether aliases not location person been immoderate benignant of ethical violations,” James said.

After nan hearing, nan Fosters sat successful nan hallway extracurricular tribunal waiting for their lawyers — Stephanie scrolling done her telephone and John yards away, apparently heavy successful thought staring into space.