Business

THEIR PAYROLL PA$TIME

The founders of bankrupt Hollywood payroll firm Axium International used company money to pay for a lavish lifestyle involving luxury cars, private jet travel and an apartment for an actress and model whose credits include soft-core porn movies, according to a lawsuit.

The suit comes less than a week after Axium abruptly filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, leaving a trail of confusion in its wake.

In papers filed in federal court in Los Angeles, Axium’s largest creditor, GoldenTree Asset Management, claims the firm’s founders, John Visconti and Ron Garber, treated the company as “their own personal piggybank to finance their extravagant lifestyles.”

GoldenTree claims the founders set up shell companies, maintained secret bank accounts and even used fake identities to perpetrate a massive fraud.

Company funds were used to pay for an LA apartment occupied by Amber Smith, a swimsuit model and actress whose credits include “Sin City Diaries,” according to the papers.

Axium also paid for a car for Smith, who was listed as a “consultant” to the company although it’s unclear exactly what services she performed, the suit said.

The suit alleges the two men also used company funds to lease ultra-luxury cars, to take nonbusiness trips on a private jet and to pay for vacations, personal gifts and political donations.

Visconti and Garber spent $462,000 a year to lease cars like a Rolls Royce Phantom, a Bentley Coupe, a Maserati Quattroporte, an Aston Martin convertible and a Range Rover, according to the suit.

The suit claims Visconti also used a corporate card issued to Axium to buy $40,000 worth of gifts at Tiffany’s on Valentine’s Day, which he never repaid.

Visconti went by several names, including Bijan Manoocherhri and John Manocheri, and had at least two social security numbers, according to the suit.

Visconti’s and Garber’s lawyers could not be reached. On Monday, they released a joint statement to the Los Angeles Times denouncing what they called “false claims” and vowing that “the facts regarding this situation will come out.”

After Axium defaulted on a $130 million loan, GoldenTree froze the company’s bank accounts, putting it out of business.

Axium provided payroll services and gap financing for numerous TV and film companies and was well known in Hollywood.

An Axium subsidiary, Ensemble Chimes Global, provided contract workers and payroll services to a number of Fortune 500 companies. holly.sanders@nypost.com