'Unorthodox' spending Julia Haart sued for millions, allegedly used company as 'personal piggy bank'

 

“My Unorthodox Life” star Julia Haart is being sued for allegedly spending unauthorized millions of dollars of company cash by her estranged husband Silvio Scaglia.

Haart, 51, who was ousted as CEO of Elite World Group earlier this month, is alleged to have spent $125,000 on “cosmetic procedures” —including a boob job, as Page Six reported — according to court papers.

The filing, seen by Page Six, also claims that Haart used the company set up to run her clothing line, E1972, as her “personal piggy bank.”

It alleges that she spent approximately $500,000 at Louis Vuitton, $180,000 at Chanel, $140,000 at Dior and more than $500,000 on lavish trips for herself and her family, plus more than $160,000 on makeup and hair-styling services.

The suit alleges that Haart overspent on the budget allocated to her for personal expenses, claiming: “In addition to exceeding E1972’s budget by millions of dollars due to her personal spending habits, Haart also freely used two EWG corporate credit cards to purchase expensive clothing and handbags, luxury vacations, and other personal and unnecessary purchases.”

“Haart made these expenditures despite the decision to fund a limited amount of Haart’s promotional costs only through E1972, and not through EWG.”

The suit added: “In total, Haart used her position as chief executive officer to spend at least $1 million of EWG’s corporate funds on personal and unnecessary expenses without authorization to do so.”

It also alleges that: “Due primarily to Haart’s mismanagement of EWG and excessive spending, from 2018 to 2021, EWG’s EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization] declined from $6 million to negative $10.4 million.

“Haart’s excessive spending on herself also contributed to E1972’s 2021 EBITDA being negative by nearly $5 million.”

Haart has previously said in court papers that she did not take a salary and therefore used company funds, as agreed with Elite World Group chiefs.

As Page Six reported, the day after she was fired from Elite World Group earlier this month, Haart was found to have withdrawn $850,000 from an account that she shared with Scaglia, held under the holding company name, Freedom Holding — despite having signed an agreement not to take out more than $250,000.

The suit alleged: “Mr. Scaglia and Freedom Holding have informed Haart, through her counsel, that the withdrawal of the $850,000 was illegal, but she has not returned the funds,” adding: “As a consequence of Haart’s breach of her duty of loyalty and good faith, and because Haart deliberately and repeatedly acted adversely to her employer, Haart has forfeited any right to compensation for her services.

“Haart is thus not entitled to any compensation for services performed during the period during which she engaged in activities constituting breach of her duties of good faith and loyalty.”

Haart is still believed to be living at the $65 million Tribeca penthouse she shared with Scaglia, whom she married in 2019 — and who subsequently made her part-owner of Elite World Group.

She filed for divorce hours after being fired, and according to sources, still has Netflix cameras rolling at her home.

Page Six has reached out to reps for Haart.

Meanwhile, Scaglia’s attorney, Lanny Davis, said in part in a statement to Page Six:

“Fiduciary duty is defined under centuries of law as requiring 100 percent selflessness to the beneficiary, the company — 100 percent honesty and transparency and non-self-aggrandizement.

“I and Mr. Scaglia believe that Ms. Haart’s conduct and excessive spending on herself has abused the trust of EWG, E1972, and Freedom Holding. Now we will trust the justice system in New York to determine the right result and, if the evidence supports it, to hold Ms. Haart accountable.”