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NY Socialite Libbie Mugrabi Asks for Restraining Order Against Ex-Spouse; Claims He Hired Hit Woman to Kill Her
Edited by: TJVNews.com
Socialite Libbie Mugrabi arrived in a Manhattan court on Wednesday wearing a $25,000 bullet proof vest and accused her billionaire ex-husband David of hiring a hit woman to kill her. Her intention at the Wednesday family court date in lower Manhattan was to demand that the court issue a restraining order against her ex-husband.
Mugrabi and her ex spouse David have been embroiled in an acrimonious divorce battle that has grabbed headlines since 2020. Libbie, 43 and her ex were immersed in a tumultuous $100 million divorce battle over their $72 million Manhattan townhouse, his $5 billion family art collection and their upscale home in the Hamptons, according to a recently published report in the Daily Mail of the UK. They were married for 13 years before they separated.
David Mugrabi, 51, is a Syrian Israeli businessman with an estimated net worth of roughly $5 billion, as of 2019. He, along with his father Jose Mugrabi and brother Alberto Mugrabi, are major collectors of Andy Warhol arts and reportedly own roughly 800 of the pop artist’s pieces– making the family the biggest private Warhol art collectors in the world. Jose Mugrabi, who was born in Israel, reportedly made his fortune in the textile business while living in Colombia, per the Post. He had moved with his family to New York in 1982, and that’s when he began amassing the legendary art collection.
Libbie Mugrabi donned black sunglasses, a white see-though dress revealing her underwear, and sling-back kitten heels on Wednesday as her arrived at court. The Daily Mail also reported that after telling the judge of her ex-husband David’s alleged plan to hire a hit woman to kill her, Judge Karen Lupuloff granted a temporary restraining order against him for herself and her 14-year-old son.
She told the judge that she was requesting a restraining order against her ex-husband ‘because he was trying to kill her’, stating in the court: ‘I want a restraining order… because my husband is trying to kill me,” as was reported by the Daily Mail of the UK.
Despite the fact that New York City was engulfed in thick and malodorous yellow smoke as a result of the 400 plus wildfires in Canada, Mugrabi still pursued her legal battles against her ex by showing up in court on a day when people were strongly advised to stay home.
The Daily Mail also reported that when queried by Judge Lupuloff to provide an explanation of ‘how David directly threatened your life’, Mugrabi responded: ‘Because the hitwoman told me many details about my husband, she knew intimate details about my husband.’
The socialite’s answer prompted Judge Lupuloff to ask again: ‘I’m specifically directing you to say how this woman made a threat. Why, where was the threat made?’ The Daily Mail reported that Libbie then stated that the woman – who she said is called Devora – had ‘stayed outside her house for six days’.
She told the judge that she had spoken to her ex-husband to ask why the woman was outside her home, alleging that he told her: ‘I don’t know who she is. Why don’t you call the police?’ and added, ‘You can’t because the police don’t take you seriously because you lie,’ according to the Daily Mail report.
In other Mugrabi related news, the Jewish Voice recently reported that the Upper East Side townhouse owned by the couple was about to hit the market as a rental, asking $95,000-a-month, as reported by Gimme Shelter.
In mid-May the rare Manhattan mansion was sold for $41 million by an entity tied ro Mugrabi. The seven-story home, at 12 E. 82nd street, was sold to an unnamed overseas art collector in an all-cash deal. The 12,000 square-foot home was considered a bargain at $41 million, first having asked $52 million when listed in 2021. The home was said to be valued at $72 million in 2018, as per court documents. The townhouse had been purchased in 2013 by an LLC linked to Mugrabi’s father for $15 million. Before that, it had been home to Swiss socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein, 82.
The new buyer clearly decided to cash in by putting the prize home out for rent. The home’s listing broker is Roberto Cabrera of Brown Harris Stevens, who had also represented the unnamed buyer in the home sale. Adam Modlin of the Modlin Group had served as broker for Mugrabi in selling the home. Neither party commented on the home’s sale or the rental listing. The buyer’s agent, Mr. Cabrera, had only commented to say that the buyer “literally felt this house was a piece of art.”
As reported by the NY Post, the contemporary home, located between Fifth and Madison Avenue, boasts four bedrooms, a 34-foot-long living room with a fireplace and wet bar, a dining room and a double-height gallery, an impressive custom spiral staircase made entirely of one piece of Corian, a state-of-the art eat-in kitchen, a landscaped garden, and a rooftop terrace with views of the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art. The impeccable home’s third floor consists of the primary suite, complete with two baths, impressive closet space, a dressing room, and a leather-paneled elevator. The home features impressive floor-to-ceiling windows and terraces on each floor.
Court documents related to Mugrabi’s high-profile divorce from his former wife had previously revealed that the couple had spent several years and tens of millions of dollars gut-renovating the home. Yahoo previously reported that up to $57 million was spent on renovations, which were overseen by starchitect Roger Ferris, and art-friendly interior design by Julie Hillman Design. This would mean that the former couple lost money on the sale of the home.
In April, the Jewish Voice reported that Libbie was compelled to pay the judgment against her to the owner of the upper east side condo that is located on East 82nd Street. The monthly rent on the upscale apartment is $28,800. The Post reported that Mugrabi lived in the apartment during the Covid pandemic and did not pay expenses.
