Broker Renowned For Threatening To Hit People With His Car Forced To Admit That He's Not Totally Broke Yet
You might have thought it was long over, but it appears that we have a new verse in The Ballad of "Tommy" Belesis:
A fallen Wall Street honcho cut a half-a-million dollar check Monday to resolve a messy dispute with a former brokerage client that nearly landed him behind bars.
Tommy Belesis, the former owner of brokerage firm John Thomas Financial, jumped up and raised his hand in Manhattan federal court Monday when Judge Katherine Forrest asked if he appeared — as per her orders.
Oh man, what did he do to owe somebody half a mill? Did he threaten someone with vehicular assault? Did he grab someone and forcibly shave their unkempt face before pouring brandy down their unwelcoming gullet? Or did he simply rip them off? Wait, he just owed someone money? Then what's the big deal?
The seemingly simple dispute turned ugly last month when the doctor, Eubulus Kerr, accused Belesis of lying under oath about his wealth in order to avoid paying the money he owed, which stood at more than $1 million this summer.
Things turned stranger still when the judge ordered that Belesis and his wife Tabitha appear before her at 9 am Monday — or face warrants for their arrest.
Judge Forrest issued the arrest threat after the Belesis’ skipped a hearing in the case.
Lying about how broke you are? Tommy, haven't all those viewings of Boiler Room taught you anything? How bad is it?
Belesis, who advised Oliver Stone on the “Wall Street” sequel at the height of his career, testified in December that he is now so poor that he had to borrow money for a cab to his Midtown Manhattan deposition.
A few months later, he filled out a mortgage application claiming $144 million in assets, Kerr’s lawyers told the judge.
Oof.
According to The Post story, it was only under threat of perjuring himself that Tommy admitted he had way more than enough money for a few cab rides. Something that could have been easily deduced by any amateur sleuth who knows that broke people take the subway to their Midtown depositions.
Former Wall Street boss forks over $500K to settle dispute [NYPost]
