The CEO of Blue Star Jets– who was tossed in the clink last year after failing to pay millions in a settlement to his ex-wife– is now suing his divorce attorney claiming she botched his case.
The remarried Richard Sitomer says matrimonial attorney Nina Epstein of Goldweber Epstein LLP allowed the courts to overvalue his 43.5 percent stake in the jet company, named after the fictional airline in Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street” flick, and misstated his interest in a Bahamian real estate venture.
Epstein “failed to exercise that degree of care, skill and diligence commonly possessed by a member of the legal profession,” Sitomer charges in the suit.
First wife Lori Levy scored a 40 percent cut of Blue Star Jets, which a court-appointed expert pegged at $1.8m. But Sitomer insists the valuation was “flawed” and his attorney should have countered the opinion with “independent expert testimony.”
Likewise the court found that Sitomer owned 60 percent of the Bahamanian property, Sandyport Plaza, when he claims he only had a 50 percent interest in it, according to the Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit. Levy got half of that asset, or $830,000.
The trial for Sitomer’s divorce from first wife Lori Levy ended in 2007, but the settlement was not finalized until over three years later when the economy tanked and the high-flying exec’s assets plummeted in value.
Sitomer blames his attorney for failing to do a re-appraisal of the companies or ask the court for a re-argument.
He also says Epstein filed an appeal, but never followed it through.
The cheapskate ex was jailed in January 2012 after a judge found him in contempt of court for living a lavish lifestyle while denying his first wife her share of their marital assets.
Epstein did not immediately return a message for comment.