Fadi Ibrahim sues former madam Jamelie Lahood over unpaid loan
Fadi Ibrahim has launched legal action against a former brothel madam claiming she failed to repay a multimillion-dollar loan. Brenden Hills has the exclusive.
NSW
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Fadi Ibrahim is suing a former brothel madam for $4.4 million and has put caveats on her Sydney property empire after their business relationship had an unhappy ending.
The 45-year-old brother of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim has launched a new legal action claiming Jamelie Lahood, who ran Camperdown bordello Stilettos, defaulted on a $2.5 million loan — and he now wants her to pay almost $2 million in interest.
Ibrahim claims Lahood breached a loan agreement by missing a 12-month deadline to repay the amount plus interest after lending her the money in April 2015.
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Lahood is set to defend the matter and claims she never entered into an interest or penalty bound written agreement with Ibrahim.
Ibrahim launched action in the NSW Supreme Court in July and it marks the second time he has sued Lahood in the past two years.
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According to property records, Ibrahim also has active caveats on four of Lahood’s properties — including a luxury waterfront mansion in Yowie Bay — worth a combined $8.6 million. According to Ibrahim’s statement of claim, drawn up by his lawyer Abbas Soukie, he charged Lahood 8 per cent interest per year on the $2.5 million loan.
He also slugged Lahood with an extra 2 per cent each month as penalty for missing the repayment deadline. Ibrahim has asked the court to force Lahood to repay him the $2.5 million plus $1.9 million in interest, the document said.
Ibrahim, who famously survived being shot by an unidentified gunman in 2009 as he sat in a black Lamborghini outside his Castle Cove home also wants her to pay $681 for court filing fees and $2340 for solicitors and service fees.
Lahood, a former fiance of gambling identity and Stilettos owner Eddie Hayson, is set to fight Ibrahim in court.
According to her defence statement, drawn up by lawyer Rodney Mitchell, Lahood admits borrowing the money from Ibrahim but denies she entered into a written agreement.
She also claims to have repaid $500,000 of the money “on or about July 2017”, the document said.
In his statement, Ibrahim claims the loan “charged” all of Lahood’s “rights, title and interest of all of her property, including real property, whether then existing or later acquired”.
And according to property records, Lahood’s property holdings are extensive.
They include a luxury waterfront property on Yarraga Place in Yowie Bay, two others on William St and Malvern Ave in Merrylands and another on Stansell St in Gladesville.
NSW Land and Registry Services records show all of Ibrahim’s caveats are still active after being taken out in 2016.
Ibrahim first sued Lahood in 2017 over the Yowie Bay property. According to property records, Lahood paid $3 million to Fantastic Furniture chairman Julian Tertini for the five bedroom house in 2011. And despite several years of skyrocketing Sydney property prices, Lahood reportedly agreed to sell it years later for $2.8 million.
Ibrahim launched court action over the sale, claiming he had a stake in the property.
Court records show Ibrahim withdrew that case in February 2018.
The Yowie Bay property was set to play a part in the latest court case but was crossed out from Ibrahim’s statement of claim.
An earlier version of Ibrahim’s statement of claim said he and Lahood “executed two mortgages” over the property, but the reference has been removed.
The case is next listed to return to court in December