Legal News

Harassed by Father-In-Law, Blackstone Dealmaker Fires Back

By Dan Slater

“Trouble with the in-laws doesn’t often involve law enforcement,” begins a story by the WSJ’s Peter Lattman, “but that’s what happened to London-based private-equity star David Blitzer, whose 71-year-old father-in-law is charged in the U.S. with trying to shake him down for $11 million.”

Blitzer is a 38-year-old Blackstone exec who handles the firm’s European corporate private-equity business. While he’s not doing deals, he’s apparently been dealing with his wife’s estranged father, Stuart Ross (a lawyer), according to a civil suit filed by Blitzer.

About three weeks ago, Ross allegedly threatened Blitzer and demanded a multimillion-dollar payment to stop harassing him. Last Thursday, Blitzer accompanied his lawyer to a staged meeting with Ross and Jackson. They agreed on a $400,000 “settlement.” Ross received a $50,000 check from Blitzer as part of a deal to get Ross to stop harassing him. Then, in a sting operation conducted Friday, Ross and his lawyer, Stuart Jackson, were arrested. The Manhattan DA’s office announced the charges Friday. Here’s another story on the flap from the North Country Gazette.

Ross and Jackson, who face up to seven years in prison, couldn’t be reached, nor could their defense lawyers. Blitzer and his lawyer, Roger Stavis, declined to comment. (For some background on Blitzer’s work at Blackstone, click here for a recent FT article.)

This tale of family fallout allegedly began in December, when Ross contacted Blitzer and asked him for money to seed a business venture. After repeated requests, Blitzer coughed up $65,000 but said he wasn’t going to give him any more money.

In the civil suit filed Friday (we’re still trying to get our hands on a copy) Blitzer accuses Ross of stealing $195,000 from him. The suit reportedly details Ross’s estranged relationship with his daughter, Allison Blitzer. When Blitzer was pregnant, Ross said that he hoped the child would die and that Blitzer’s gravestone should be carved with an obscenity, according to the suit.

Ross had success earlier in his business career for importing the Smurfs cartoon characters to the U.S. from Belgium, but had lost his money due to bad business decisions, according to a separate civil complaint filed by Blitzer. From there, the harassment continued with phone calls, emails and threats of derailing Blitzer’s career.

Last month, Ross enlisted the services of Jackson, the lawyer. Blitzer eventually put Jackson in touch with his lawyer. In an Aug. 5 phone conversation, Jackson said if Blitzer gave Ross $5.5 million, Ross would stop harassing him and promise not to communicate with his daughter and grandchildren. The next day, Jackson sent a letter to Blitzer’s lawyer doubling Ross’s demand — asking for $5.5 million to not communicate with Blitzer’s family and another $5.5 million for not contacting Blackstone.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on August 25, 2008 (boomark / email).