Trending

Algerian soccer star Faouzi Ghoulam scores in legal battle against Italian businessman

Athlete seeks to block Fabrizio Arengi Bentivoglio from selling NYC real estate assets

Soccer star Faouzi Ghoulam Battles Italian Businessman
Fouzi Ghoulam and Fabrizio Arengi Bentivoglio (left) with 117 East 57th Street and 166 East 63rd Street (Getty, Streeteasy, LinkedIn)

Algerian soccer star Faouzi Ghoulam scored his first win in a battle against Italian businessman Fabrizio Arengi Bentivoglio.

Ghoulam, who played professional soccer in France and Italy for AS Saint-Étienne and S.S.C. Napoli, alleges Arengi failed to pay back $12 million in loans from 2021 and transferred collateral backing the loans. 

Ghoulam sought an injunction from the court to prevent Arengi from selling more assets, including condo units at 166 East 63rd Street and 117 East 57th Street in Manhattan. Ghoulam also sought to bar Arengi from selling interests in an entity that links to a unit on Fifth Avenue.

In January, New York Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen issued an injunction, preventing Arengi from selling $25 million in proceeds that Arengi and his company received as part of a $200 million acquisition by private equity firm TPG of advisory firm Morrow Sodali. 

Ghoulam claims in a lawsuit filed in the New York Supreme Court that Arengi induced Ghoulam to make the loan by pledging valuable collateral. The collateral includes interests in Morrow Sodali and shares of Patriot National Bancorp. 

Darren Oved and Terrence Oved (Oved & Oved)

But Ghoulam alleges Arengi breached the loan terms in 2022. Ghoulam claims Arengi sold interests in Morrow Sodali after private equity firm TPG acquired a majority stake in Morrow Sodali. The sale netted Arengi’s company about $20 million in cash and $5 million in new equity, the lawsuit claims.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

But Arengi did not use this money to pay off his loans, Ghoulam claims, and instead defaulted and failed to make interest payments in September 2024. Now Ghoulam is seeking to collect on the unpaid loan and default interest. 

“The Court rightly acknowledged the irreparable harm caused by Arengi and his entity and appropriately restrained them from dissipating the $25 million they obtained through breaching their agreements,” said Ghoulam’s attorneys Terrence and Darren Oved of Oved & Oved. “Our clients are entitled to the full benefit of their agreements, and we will relentlessly pursue defendants to ensure that objective”.  

Arengi’s attorney did not return a request to comment.

Read more

Popular
New York
Joel Braver to build on Soho site once owned by soccer stars
Recommended For You