UPDATED Nov. 17, 3:08 p.m.: Dr. Mehmet Oz, the controversial television personality, is a piece of work as a business manager and sibling, too, according to his sister Nazlim.
And she aims to prove that in court.
In a complaint filed Monday in Manhattan, Nazlim Oz claims Dr. Oz shut off the $15,000 a month that she was getting from two Upper East Side condo units.
Nazlim alleges that the payments stopped shortly after the February 2019 death of their father, Mustafa Oz, who purchased the units in 1983 and whose estate entered probate in Istanbul, Turkey, after he died. Dr. Oz manages the company that controls the units.
Dr. Oz has provided no reason for withholding payments, the lawsuit claims. “In effect, he is improperly withholding her lawful payments here, for his own potential personal gain in the Turkish probate proceedings,” the suit claims, adding that “such behavior is in violation of his duties as manager of the Oz LLC.”
But Dr. Oz told The Real Deal early Tuesday afternoon that he had no choice to cut off payments to his youngest sister because their mother and other family members are suing her — apparently in Turkey — over the distribution of the estate.
“My father legally placed me as manager of this entity, so although I do not own or desire these properties, I am obliged to hold all the income safely in escrow until the courts here and in Turkey have decided the merits of the ongoing litigations,” he said in a statement.
Nazlim’s attorney did not return a request for comment.
The limited liability company which controls the properties at 40 East 94th Street and 415 East 45th Street, Oz Parents Apartments, was established in 2009, and is registered at what the complaint identifies as Dr. Oz’s home address in Cliffside Park, New Jersey. Nazlim resides in Istanbul.
Units in the two buildings, the Carnegie Hill Tower and St. James’s Tower, recently rented for between $4,000 and $25,000 a month, according to Compass. Nazlim and her sister Seval evenly share income from the two Oz units through a membership interest established in 2011, according to the lawsuit.
Dr. Oz faced public backlash during the apex of New York City’s coronavirus crisis for saying schools should be reopened and has drawn the ire of doctors and politicians for his questionable health and medicinal recommendations. The cardiothoracic surgeon is host of “The Dr. Oz Show” and a member of President Donald Trump’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.
This story has been updated to include a response from Dr. Oz.