1 hour ago
2
A well-known alleged escort and former Playboy model pulled one of the most powerful real-estate titans into a sexting scandal.
Real-estate investor and developer Andrew Farkas was already fielding uncomfortable questions about his past business dealings with the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein when another legal mess surfaced quietly in court. It was a lawsuit accusing Farkas of encouraging the nonconsensual sharing of sexually explicit videos — allegations that carried potential damages of $150,000 per video, court records obtained The Post show.
The case, filed in June under the name John Doe in Manhattan federal court, accused Farkas of urging the alleged escort, Angelica Parker, to send him explicit recordings depicting her and Doe engaged in sex — videos the plaintiff said were made and distributed without his consent. The lawsuit was settled in the fall, and Farkas was dismissed from the case with prejudice, meaning the claims cannot be refiled.
The terms were not disclosed, and Farkas did not admit wrongdoing.
The lawsuit had gone largely unnoticed as Farkas, 65, the founder of Island Capital and owner of marquee New York properties including the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel and the Lexington Hotel, found himself back in headlines earlier this month after the New York Times detailed his former marina partnership with Epstein in the US Virgin Islands.
According to the complaint, Parker and the anonymous plaintiff were previously in a sexual relationship that ended in 2022. But on the night of Oct. 14, 2022, Parker allegedly set her sights on Farkas, who was then in Palm Beach.
“To achieve her goal,” the complaint states, Parker “began to send Farkas sexual text messages and videos.”
The filing alleges Farkas responded “enthusiastically,” prompting Parker to escalate. The complaint says Parker proposed sending Farkas explicit videos involving the plaintiff in order to satisfy what the filing describes as Farkas’s “voyeuristic desires.”
About 30 minutes later, the lawsuit alleges, Parker sent Farkas a video that “showed Doe and Parker engaging in a sexual act,” which Parker recorded “in a manner so as to display Doe’s face and genital areas.”
Two more videos allegedly followed in quick succession, each similarly framed to show the plaintiff’s face and genitals, according to the complaint. The filing says Farkas “watched each of the three videos.”
Doe alleged he never consented to the videos being shared with anyone — including Farkas — and that Parker “could have sent other videos,” but instead “elected to send videos of Doe to humiliate Doe and cause him emotional harm.”
The complaint further alleges that Farkas “encouraged the transmission of these videos” and continued requesting more explicit material.
After receiving the videos, the filing says, Farkas purchased airline tickets for Parker to fly to Palm Beach the following day.
The lawsuit spelled out a steep potential bill.
Under a federal statute governing the nonconsensual distribution of intimate images, Doe sought liquidated damages of $150,000 for each video Parker allegedly sent to Farkas — meaning the three videos alone carried a potential tab of $450,000, according to the complaint.
Doe also brought claims under Florida’s sexual cyberharassment law, seeking $10,000 per video, or actual damages if higher, along with attorneys’ fees and costs.
The case never reached trial.
In August, US District Judge Ronnie Abrams noted that the case had been “settled in principle” and closed it administratively. In September, Doe formally dismissed the claims against Farkas with prejudice.
Court records show the lawsuit emerged after months of discovery fights in a separate federal case involving Parker, in which subpoenas sought text messages, videos, photographs and payment records referencing multiple individuals, including Farkas. Those discovery battles centered on explicit recordings and private communications — providing the backdrop for how the allegations later came to light.
Parker — who has also gone by the name Angelica Cecora — has been involved in multiple civil lawsuits over the past decade-plus, including high-profile matters that have been covered widely.
In 2012, as Angelica Cecora, she sued boxer Oscar De La Hoya in New York state court for emotional distress, false imprisonment, assault and battery; the case was dismissed and later appellate proceedings upheld dismissal of certain claims.
And in 2024, Parker filed suit accusing luxury real-estate broker Tal Alexander and his brothers Oren and Alon Alexander of sexual assault; the Alexanders denied the claims, and the case was later dismissed on a technical or procedural basis.
A spokesperson for Farkas told The Post in a statement: “Mr. Farkas settled this suit purely for convenience.” Lawyers for Doe declined to comment.
The lawsuit was resolved as Farkas was already facing heightened public attention following recent news on his long-standing business partnership with Jeffrey Epstein, when he asked the disgraced late financier to split the ownership of American Yacht Harbor marina.
Through a spokeswoman, Farkas has said his relationship with Epstein was strictly professional and that he regrets the association. The Times reported there was no indication Farkas was involved in Epstein’s criminal conduct.
Farkas sold Island Global Yachting, the 127-slip marina company he founded, in 2022, for $480 million. His real estate empire remains deeply rooted in New York, where he has long been a major political donor and power real estate player.
Referred as “the legend of real estate” by other developers and brokers, Farkas, with an estimated net worth of $2.34 billion, is the founder of Island Capital Group, a merchant bank, and a scion of the family behind Alexander’s department stores.
In New York, his firm has acquired some of the city’s most prominent hospitality assets, including the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel — the third largest hotel in Manhattan — which Island Capital bought for $373 million. The firm has also marketed the historic Lexington Hotel — a Midtown Manhattan landmark which once counted guests including Yankees Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio and Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe — for $275 million.
Over decades, Farkas built his reputation by buying distressed properties and repositioning them for steady cash flow, becoming a fixture in the city’s real-estate and political circles. He has been a major political donor and a longtime ally of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, whom he employed in a senior role at Island Capital while Cuomo was out of office in recent years.
The Times reported that documents released by Congress do not suggest Farkas engaged in criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein, but they shed light on how Epstein maintained elite business relationships long after early allegations against him became public.
English (US)