What’s worse: Getting sued by Vladimir Putin’s bank or by a Palm Beach socialite? Janna Bullock is about to find out.
Florida’s Gina DiSabatino filed a complaint against Bullock in New York State Supreme Court Wednesday, alleging that the Russian-American mansion flipper may be helping her estranged husband hide valuable art.
DiSabatino and her husband, the wealthy art dealer Frederic Bouin, have been locked in a divorce battle since 2014. DiSabatino’s lawyer had previously deposed Bullock to get information about the location of 57 paintings, but the Russian-American socialite didn’t show up.
This wouldn’t be the first time Bullock is getting a taste of the U.S. legal system. After leaving Russia in 2012 with her husband, the former finance minister of the Moscow region, state-controlled Gazprombank accused the couple of embezzling taxpayer money. The bank, which is currently under sanctions from the U.S. Department of Treasury over its ties to the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine, sued the couple in Cyprus and won an order to freeze their assets.
In August, a U.S. court subpoenaed brokerage Brown Harris Stevens over a Southampton estate she was trying to sell at the time.
Meanwhile, Bullock has tried to leave a mark in the real estate industry by flipping pricey homes in the New York City area – apparently with limited success. She repeatedly faced foreclosure over missed payments on New York homes. In August, she sold a development site at 34 East 62nd Street for $11.9 million – a quarter of the asking price. [NYP] – Konrad Putzier