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Greg Norman’s ex-wife: You stiffed me!

Norman (AP Photo)

Norman (AP Photo)

Double bogey for Jupiter Island golfer Greg Norman!

Not only is he dealing with his separation from new wife Chris Evert, the Boca Raton-based former tennis star, but now he’s got a ticked off ex-wife to deal with.

Palm Beacher Laura Andrassy says the Great White Shark stiffed her in his yearly payment of their divorce settlement.

She contends in new paperwork filed in the Martin County courthouse in Stuart that his $2 million wire transfer to her June 15 was about $72,000 short. She asked a judge to force Norman to pay up, or order arbitration.

According to their contract, the missus, a former flight attendant, will be $103 million richer by 2023 as a result of the agreement they signed when they were divorced two years ago.

So, what’s $72,000?

“It’s a substantial sum of money,” said Andrassy’s lawyer in West Palm Beach, Jack Scarola. “I have no desire to annoy Mr. Norman. But he has an obligation to meet his contractual commitments. If someone owes $72,000, just pay up.”

Andrassy, leaving a divorce hearing with lawyer Jack Scarola in 2007 (The Palm Beach Post archives)

Andrassy, leaving a divorce hearing with lawyer Jack Scarola in 2007 (The Palm Beach Post archives)

Norman’s divorce attorney, Jeff Fisher, declined comment. But in his response filed in court, Fisher wrote that Norman and his ex promised they’d seek arbitration for disputes instead of the court system.

Andrassy’s recent motion to enforce is nothing more than a “method to feed information (usually of a disparaging nature) about the former husband to the media.”

The $72,000 alleged shortfall, according to court papers, comes from the calculation of Andrassy’s share in Norman’s Colorado ranch, Seven Lakes Lodge. She’s supposed to get close to $780,000 a year for the ranch, but got much less.

Incidentally, Norman recently put the property on the market for $55 million.

The motion reopens the saga of golfer/vintner’s divorce, which was filed in June 2006 after Andrassy accused him of cheating on her with tennis champ Evert. Although Norman and Andrassy were officially divorced when he married Evert in June 2008, they’ve been ironing some of their differences since.

Laura Andrassy's attempt to collect $72,000 in her $103 million-divorce from Greg Norman is:

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Boca restaurateur Tony Bova lands in Scott Rothstein storm

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Boca Raton, Breaking News, Broward, Busted, Politicos, Scandals |
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| Thursday 5 November 2009 11:34 am Print This Post
Bova received the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Leader of the Year award in 2004 (Palm Beach Post archives)

Bova received the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Leader of the Year award in 2004 (Palm Beach Post archives)

The scandal that engulfed the well-known Fort Lauderdale law firm of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler has spilled into the Boca Raton restaurant biz.

Tony Bova, 58, a Boca resident and the high-profile owner of a string of area restaurants, counts disgraced attorney and political power broker Scott Rothstein among his partners in at least a half-dozen ventures.

And chief among those are Bova Ristorante, Bova’s pride and joy on Boca’s Federal Highway, and the chain Bova Restaurant Group.

Bova Ristorante, where older guys with slicked-back hair loved to hook up with women too young for them, mysteriously closed its doors shortly before Rothstein took off for North Africa last month.

And no one’s talking.

“Tony Bova has no comment at this point,” a spokeswoman said.

Bova’s association with Rothstein, who’s believed to be the principal in a $500 million Ponzi scheme and just returned to Florida to face the music, surprised observers.

“Tony was a very successful restaurant owner in his own right,” said Tom Prakas, a hospitality-business broker. “I don’t know why he needed Scott Rothstein.”

One strange thing regarding Bova and Rothstein is that their businesses last year spent more than $200,000 on political causes, mostly in a heated race across the Palm Beach County line.

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Lambiet’s Lunch: Ann Coulter’s a calendar pinup!

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Breaking News, Island’s Finest, Politicos |
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| Wednesday 4 November 2009 1:26 pm Print This Post
(Courtesy of CBLPI)

(Courtesy of CBLPI)

This portrait of the Palm Beach-based GOP dragon lady Ann Coulter fittingly adorns a winter month on the 2010 conservative women calendar. Yep, there is such a calendar, and it’s being put out by the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute. The group offers guidance and advice to young conservative women. This year, by the way, the calendar also features fallen Miss California Carrie Prejean and the comely conservative scribe Michelle Malkin. This must-have item can be yours for a mere $25.

Are you ordering your 2010 conservative women calendar?

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After 10 months, no charge filed in Palm Beach rape probe

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Breaking News, Island’s Finest, West Palm Beach |
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| Wednesday 4 November 2009 12:41 pm Print This Post
The Mine Games (Courtesy www.charterworld.com)

The Mine Games (Courtesy www.charterworld.com)

The office of State Attorney Mike McAuliffe Monday declined to prosecute a businessman from California accused of raping a well-known area woman after a party on a Palm Beach-based yacht.

The alleged victim, whose name is being kept confidential by Page2Live because of the nature of the crime, told Palm Beach Police in February that she believes someone dropped a roofie in her drink during a Super Bowl party on the 164-foot Mine Games. The yacht, which is usually docked at the Australian docks, is owned by West Virginia coal mogul and North Palm Beach resident Chris Cline.

The victim, a 38-year-old woman who’s popular among The Island’s nightlife dwellers, told police she remembers being at the party, at times doing tequila shots. But she doesn’t remember much past 9:30 p.m., Feb. 1, until she found herself in the front seat of her car engaged in sex with a man who was on the yacht but whom she had not met.

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Rothstein’s clients may have clean hands — but does he?

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Breaking News, Broward, Busted, Politicos, Scandals, crash |
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| Wednesday 4 November 2009 9:45 am Print This Post

This is a cellphone picture of a hand sanitizer in the men’s room at the Fort Lauderdale headquarters of the lawfirm Rothstein, Rosenfeldt Adler. The bottle bears the firm’s logo and these words: “OUR CLIENTS come to court WITH CLEAN HANDS.” The nerve! Let’s see if founder Scott Rothstein, one of Gov. Charlie Crist’s sugar daddies, has clean hands when he answers to allegations that he ripped off $500 million from investors to fund his champagne-and-caviar lifestyle! Check out the latest on Rothstein here.

hands-2

Blue flu: More sex-related allegations vs PBSO lieutenant lead to sick leave

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Breaking News, Heroes, Politicos, Polls, West Palm Beach |
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| Tuesday 3 November 2009 1:47 pm Print This Post

pbsoLt. Paula Kronsperger, one of the highest-profile females at the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, is out on worker’s comp as more allegations of sex-related wrongdoing rain on her.

Kronsperger, 41, the warrants and fugitives unit’s executive officer, went out on leave Oct. 11, according to PBSO spokeswoman Teri Barbera. Barbera couldn’t legally discuss the reason for Kronsperger’s temporary departure. But two sources at the department said months under Internal Affairs scrutiny and a new investigation by PBSO’s Human Resources have stressed out Kronsperger.

Four days before Kronsperger’s departure, as many as 20 of her employees descended on the office of HR honcho Joyce Stelling to file a federal EEOC complaint against Kronsperger.

Reason: Hostile work environment!

John Kazanjian, head of the local PBA police union, confirmed the existence of the EEOC complaint.

“The sheriff (Ric Bradshaw) called me to ask if I could hold off some of my members from joining the EEOC action,” Kazanjian said. “But I couldn’t do it.”

The troops, meanwhile, are grumbling that it is highly unusual for a PBSO employee to be allowed on worker’s comp for stress. Usually, stressed out employees have to use the Family Medical Leave Act.

FMLA leaves are unpaid. But because Kronsperger is on worker’s comp, PBSO continues paying her $104,000-a-year salary, Barbera confirmed.

Last month a member of Bradshaw’s cabinet, Maj. Michael Veccia, invoked the FMLA to take a leave the day he was supposed to be interviewed by Internal Affairs in connection with a hostile work environment complaint. He, too, told the brass he was stressed out.

Why the double standard? It’s nothing of the sort, Barbera said.

For more, and the poll, look below or click (Read more…)

Palm Beach County Commish Steve Abrams law firm imploding; Founder Scott Rothstein MIA

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Boca Raton, Breaking News, Broward, Busted, Politicos |
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| Monday 2 November 2009 10:23 am Print This Post
Abrams

Palm Beach County Commissioner Steve Abrams

Rookie Palm Beach County Commissioner Steve Abrams was called to the Fort Lauderdale headquarters of his private employer, the law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, for a 9 a.m. meeting today. The meeting is about the future of the 76-attorney company founded by the flamboyantly rich and politically connected Scott Rothstein.

Abrams is one of three attorneys at the firm’s Boca Raton offices. Hired 18 months ago, Abrams specialized in governmental law until he was picked by Gov. Charlie Crist to replace disgraced commissioner Mary McCarty on the commission.

“I’m just part-time now and I don’t do governmental law,” Abrams said. “I don’t know anything about what’s going on. I’m in a satellite office in Boca. We don’t hear anything.”

Abrams said he doesn’t know if he still has a job there. Several lawyers were recently laid off.

Rothstein, a tight buddy of Crist’s and other Republican heavy-hitters like U.S. Sen. John McCain, skipped town last week amid allegations that money borrowed from legal settlements was missing.

Rothstein was known to hire lawyers involved in politics, including Abrams, a former mayor of Boca Raton, and disgraced former Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne.

Happy Halloween . . .

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Breaking News |
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| Friday 30 October 2009 5:46 pm Print This Post

. . . from Page2Live!

David_Letterman_Show_NYCS700.jpg

Madoff pal Jeffry Picower laid to rest on Long Island

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Breaking News, Island’s Finest, RIP, Scandals |
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| Thursday 29 October 2009 2:13 pm Print This Post
Picower

Picower

Billionaire Jeffry Picower, who died of a heart attack in the pool of his $28 million Palm Beach mansion Sunday, was laid to rest Tuesday before an intimate gathering at the Mount Ararat Cemetery in Farmingdale, N.Y.

Picower, 67, was under investigation in the Bernie Madoff swindle when he died. Picower is said to have made $7 billion on his investments with Madoff — cash that Madoff victims want to recover.

A spywitness tells me Picower’s body was accompanied to the gravesite by a dozen people, including his wife, Barbara, and an undercover security guard. Funeral arrangements for the 2 p.m. ceremony were kept secret.

Picower’s new address: Section 60, Range C, Lot 15.

Mount Ararat (Courtesy www.findagrave.com)

Mount Ararat Cemetery (Courtesy www.findagrave.com)

(Courtesy www.findagrave.com)

(Courtesy www.findagrave.com)

Congressman: If Rush’s out, why do Fergie and JLo own Fins?

Fergie: Get diapers!

Fergie: Adult diapers, please!

Under congressional fire: Miami Dolphins’ celebrity owners!

U.S. Rep. Steve King, a Republican from the boondocks — I mean Iowa — asked NFL Commish Roger Goodell a pertinent question in a Capitol Hill hearing yesterday.

If Palm Beacher Rush Limbaugh is too offensive to be a part-owner of the St. Louis Rams, then why are Fergie and singer/actress Jennifer Lopez?

King, who hijacked a hearing about football injuries, said: “I don’t think anything that Rush Limbaugh said was offensive, but with Fergie and with J-Lo, they have, between the two of them, alleged that the CIA are terrorists and liars. They’ve promoted sexual abuse of women. They’ve used the N-word, verbal pornography, recreational drug use, etc. And they are owners of the Dolphins. And it’s also ironic that Fergie was approved as an owner on the very day that you made your statement on Rush Limbaugh.”

JLo

JLo

And King left out a few things.

He didn’t seem to remember the time when Fergie was so drunk she peed on herself during a show. And he left out Dolphins part-owner Serena Williams, the Palm Beach Gardens tennis titan whose obscene tirade at a line judge at this year’s U.S. Open was seen by a worldwide audience.

And he’s got the JLo thing wrong. Her hubby, salsero Marc Anthony, is an owner — JLo isn’t listed on the team’s media guide as one. She does accompany him to games and often ends up in game photos.

As for Fergie, the sale of her shares into the team is pending.

Still, Goodell’s response was little else than a typical D.C. topic-shifting ploy. He talked about Donovan McNabb, the Philadelphia Eagles QB whom Limbaugh once called “overrated.”

On his Web site Wednesday, Limbaugh called Goodell a “total weasel.”

King ended his questioning by telling Goodell to listen to JLo and Fergie songs and report back.

“I’d ask you to go back and take a look at the owners of the Dolphins, and . . . the songs that they recorded, review those lyrics, and I’ll provide some of those lyric songs to you,” he said, “and I’ll ask you to come back and respond to that question after the hearing as to whether you’ll put the same scrutiny on those owners who have really shined a negative light on the NFL as opposed to somebody that the NFL apparently just doesn’t agree with his politics.”

The Limbaugh controversy erupted earlier this month when star conservative radio talker was dropped from a group of investors who bid on the hapless Rams. Goodell spoke against Limbaugh becoming an investor, as did players and current team owners — mostly for things Limbaugh may or may not have said concerning race.

Meanwhile Dolphins majority owner Stephen M. Ross, whose Palm Beach home is two miles south of Rush’s, has stocked the team’s ownership with celebrities. The roster includes tennis star Venus Williams, Serena’s sister, and Miami singer Gloria Estefan and husband Emilio. The Dolphins signed a commercial deal with Palm Beach troubadour Jimmy Buffett and had hip-hopper T-Pain redo the team’s fight song.

Said Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene: “We have no comment, except to reaffirm that our limited partners were approved through the appropriate process by the NFL.”

U.S. Rep. Steve King is:

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