In June, Mohamed Hadid—the father of supermodels Bella and Gigi Hadid—was ordered to demolish his $50 million Bel Air, California, mega-mansion after the California Supreme Court declared the home a “clear and present danger.” And on Tuesday, the real-estate developer found himself back in court, claiming he’s now too broke to pay the roughly $5 million it will take to raze the property.
According to documents obtained by the Daily Mail, Hadid claims he has “no funds” and will face serious financial distress if he loses $60 million on the lavish property, a large portion of which he pleaded no contest to three criminal charges involving illegal construction. He added that he still owes $15 million in court judgments against him, and that he’s had to “drastically downsize” from a 48,000-square-foot home to a “modest” ranch-style property because of the state of his finances. He also alleges that he’s made no money from the products he or his daughters have lent their name to after his daughters’ eyewear brand failed.
But according to lawyers for the neighbors currently suing Hadid for cash damages for the years-long “nightmare” they say he’s put them through, Hadid’s claims are “blatantly and intentionally deficient.” They also accused him of “concealing his finances to avoid being called to task.” Hadid previously blamed one of these neighbors, Joe Horacek, for drumming up public interest in the case, saying, “This guy had nothing to do except me. I am his life. He is obsessed.” He also claimed that the ruling against him and his new home was a “political lynching” based on his celebrity, race, and religion, adding, “They’re racist. Absolute racist. There is something beyond the normal that has happened here. I know that, I’m 100%, and I want to write about it.”
However, in a statement to the Mail, Horacek’s wife Bibi asserted, “Hadid is a convicted criminal. It is not about ethnicity or religion. It is about his criminal conduct. He needs to stop blaming my husband for Hadid’s own illegal acts.”
A representative for Mohamed Hadid was not immediately available for comment.
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