A judge in Miami dismissed the $100 million wrongful death lawsuit against billionaire developer Jeffrey Soffer over a 2012 helicopter accident in the Bahamas.
Daria Gogoleva first sued Soffer in federal court in December 2013 on behalf of Lance Valdez, who was killed in the helicopter crash. She withdrew the complaint and refilled the suit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in January. The Miami-Dade case was tossed on Monday.
Soffer had twice sought dismissals of the lawsuit before Monday’s ruling. His wife, supermodel Elle Macpherson, was mentioned in Gogoleva’s complaint. Soffer argued Gogoleva did not have the ability to file a wrongful death suit on behalf of Valdez because she was not his widow.
“We are very pleased by the court’s decision to dismiss the case,” attorney Bob Martinez, who represented Soffer, said in a written statement. “As we have said from the outset, this was a frivolous case filled with baseless accusations intended solely to generate headlines.” — Eric Kalis