A jealous, jet-setting New York lawyer beat and stalked his ex-girlfriend, threatened her with a knife and ransacked her apartment — and then vowed to ”teach her a lesson” for reporting the abuse to authorities, a new lawsuit claims.
Manhattan hedge fund lawyer Samir “Sam” Tabar, fueled by “unfounded jealousy, paranoia [and] insecurity,” also planted a dog tracking GPS device in the purse of former galpal Angela Kovalesky so he could check her location and hunt her down when he was out of town, the court papers allege.
And at one point — determined to “intimidate” Kovalesky after she got a protective order against him — the twisted Tabar changed his address to Kovalesky’s apartment and “she began receiving [his] mail at her apartment in Brooklyn,” according to the suit.
Kovalesky, who works for the Archdiocese of New York as the executive director at Catholic Alumni Partnership, filed a $4 million defamation, battery and malicious abuse lawsuit against Tabar in Manhattan Supreme Court Wednesday.
Tabar, a Columbia Law School and Oxford University alum, is a senior lawyer at powerhouse Manhattan firm Schulte Roth & Zabel.
Kovalesky and Tabar began dating in late 2010, but he was “emotionally and physically abusive from the start” and the pair split in 2011, the suit says. They reunited in the summer of 2012, Tabar “began physically assaulting her on almost a daily basis,” the suit claims.
In February 2013, Tabar embarked on a four-month harrassment campaign against his ex. In one February 6 incident, cops were called after he “beat” her, broke picture frames, a speaker and a chair in her apartment, and “grabbed a knife from the kitchen and threatened to use it” on Kovalesky, court documents allege.
When Kovalesky told him two days later she didn’t want to talk to him, the suit claims, Tabar’s “harassment escalated into threats” toward Kovalesky’s family and he made bogus claims to her bosses at work that she was a drug addict.
Tabar also sent “rude and crude” text messages to Kovalesky’s ex-boyfriend, destroyed her phones and took “inappropriate photos” of her while she was sleeping, using them to “threaten and intimidate her,” Kovalesky claims.
On February 16, 2013, Kovalesky agreed to meet Tabar at Brooklyn’s Wythe Hotel — where he was staying – to talk, but he attacked her and slashed her $2,000 after she refused to have sex with him, the papers allege. Cops were called to the hotel.
A week later, on February 26, 2013, Tabar sent Kovalesky menacing text messages that read, “I will be teaching you a lesson” and “there are some people in this world you just do your best not to cross,” according to the documents.
Kovalesky filed an NYPD complaint on February 27, 2013, the suit claims.
Tabar then bombarded her with “ceaseless” emails and texts to convince her to drop the charges. His lawyer also reached out to her, saying he’d get Tabar to “enroll in an anger management course” if she did as Tabar asked, according to court papers.
Kovalesky claims Tabar “repeatedly” violated restraining orders and instructed her not to cooperate with the Brooklyn District Attorney in the case against him, and later “dictated what he wanted [her] to say on the witness stand.”
In June that year, Kovalesky got a protection order:
Two days later, Tabar got one against her in a “retaliatory” move, according to the suit.
On August 11, 2013, the documents claim, Tabar pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in Brooklyn Criminal Court.
In an email to The Post, a lawyer for Tabar denied Kovalesky’s claims and blasted the suit as “frivolous.”
The suit “contained multiple falsehoods,” said lawyer Justin Sher, who also claimed Kovalesky had “a history” of drug abuse and that she and Tabar had only “a brief relationship.”
Tabar’s lawyer profile was removed from Schulte Roth’s website late Wednesday. A spokeswoman for the firm did not respond to requests for comment.
Tabar’s Facebook page – which boasted pictures of the lawyer hobnobbing with celebrities and traveling the world – was abruptly taken down after the suit was filed.
James Ingoglia, the lawyer for Kovalesky, said in a statement: “As our complaint details, Ms. Kovalesky is taking action to end her victimization. Mr. Tabar instituted a campaign of harassment, as well as physical, mental, and emotional intimidation. His retaliation against Ms. Kovalesky for ending the cycle of abuse was unconscionable, and she is demanding that he be held accountable for his actions.”