Gilded Lily
Page 32
So, at the bank’s grand opening: “Kennedy Cuts Ribbon at a New Bank on Fifth Avenue,” New York Times, January 25, 1966.
“If someone brings a friend”: “A TV spectacular sets off a ‘run’ on New York bank,” Wall Street Journal, April 12, 1973.
But attracting new depositors: Burrough, p. 50.
“I’m now competing with the big boys”: “Collector of Banks is Going Public,” New York Times, September 27, 1972.
“Who is that beautiful woman?”: Albert Nasser, interview by author, December 3, 2006.
“The relationship between the bank and the first-named defendant”: Rosy Fanto’s affidavit dated October 6, 1971, court papers, 1971 F. No 2064, High Court of Justice, Chancery Division. All subsequent information pertaining to the London legal case is quoted from the court transcripts.
Alfredo was, at various times, put on a combination: Dr. Giacomo Landau, affidavit dated June 6, 1971.
demanding the guardianship of Carlos Monteverde: All information from the legal battle over the adoption of Carlos Monteverde by Lily Monteverde is taken from Brazilian court transcripts, 1970–1973.
They finally found a lawyer: João Augusto Miranda Jordão to Rosy Fanto, July 16, 1973.
In the summer of 1970, Lily rented a yacht: Court papers, 1971 F. No 2064, High Court of Justice, Chancery Division.
“They really knew how to enjoy themselves”: Marcelo Steinfeld, interview by author, October 17, 2007.
“The Safras put a lot of pressure on Edmond not to marry Lily:” ibid.
FIVE: TWO WEDDINGS
“Much to my surprise”: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., dated March 19, 1972.
“Mrs. Cohen had preferred to let us be alone”: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.
“Much to my stupefaction”: ibid.
“Lily’s latest gigolo”: Marcelo Steinfeld, interview by author, October 17, 2007.
“She was only using the guy”: Marcelo Steinfeld, ibid.
the “black money” as she called it: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007.
photos of “poor darling Freddy”: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, February 5, 2008. These photographs of Alfredo were also mentioned by Maria Luisa Goldschmid, Alfredo’s former secretary, who visited Lily shortly after she arrived in London, and recalled seeing them in Lily’s living room.
When he died in 1907: Obituary of Judah Bendahan, London’s Jewish Chronicle, December 6, 1907.
Life with Lily seemed blissful in those early days: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, December 30, 1971.
refers to herself as Madame Claude: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, undated note.
“My adorable husband”: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, January 8, 1972.
to have children with her (“lots of them!”): Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, January 4, 1972.
“my love, my darling, my beloved”: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, January 8, 1972.
Still, there were strains: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.
“Mrs. Monteverde was of course incensed”: Samuel Bendahan, ibid.
the man she called her “Red Indian”: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, undated note.
“beautiful Alain Delon’s [sic] hat”: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, undated note.
“She had traveled with these!”: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007.
“As a very last precaution I did insist”: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.
“very concerned about the disparity”: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007. Bendahan also discussed the financial arrangements with Lily regarding the servants during this interview.
“held an idealistic view of marriage”: Samuel Bendahan, letter dated March 19, 1972.
“Dear mum and dad: Carlos Monteverde to Lily Bendahan and Samuel Bendahan, February 13 and February 27, 1972.
“How does it feel to be part of a mad family”: Samuel Bendahan, letter dated March 19, 1972.
“We arrived in Rio”: Samuel Bendahan, ibid.
“She was so happy on that trip”: Elza Gruenbaum, interview by author, December 18, 2007.
Lily found an even grander stone villa: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972; property records, Vallauris, France, March 1972.
set out the terms of purchase: Willard Zucker, intent to purchase to Mme. Gilberte Duarte Ex. Esders, March 6, 1972.
He was furious at her extravagance: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 28, 2007.
the shares being held in equal parts: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.
“And this continued well into my day”: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007.
“We were excited to be together”: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, December 9, 2007.
“a dramatic decline”: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.
Werner, her London chauffeur: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007.
“endless telephone calls”: Samuel Bendahan, ibid.
Lily began to receive a “fusillade” of calls: Samuel Bendahan, ibid.
“He offered me his warmest congratulations”: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 26, 2007.
“she was subjected to a barrage”: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., September 24, 1973.
“On the airplane to London”: Samuel Bendahan, ibid.
went around inspecting every lampshade: Samuel Bendahan, ibid.
“I now no longer had to press her to speak”: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.
she begged Bendahan to hide a painting: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 26, 2007.
“thief-director”: Lourdes Mattos, interview by author, September 13, 2006.
Bendahan heard a knock on the door: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972, and interview by author, October 26, 2007.
“I have tried to reach my wife”: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.
“This is in effect how our marriage broke up”: Samuel Bendahan, letter dated September 24, 1973.
“Edmond told me that he couldn’t sleep at night”: Albert Nasser, interview by author, December 3, 2006.
“He called Alouan and asked him”: Albert Nasser, interview by author, December 3, 2006.
“I can only think that my wife is either very sick”: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.
In a chatty letter: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, January 5, 1972.
and suffered hallucinations: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, two letters dated January 8, 1972 and one letter dated January 15, 1972.
Lily later met up with Eduardo: Samuel Bendahan, notes 1972, on photographs from his honeymoon.
“were persistent and categorical”: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 26, 2007.
he was arrested by a plainclothes policeman: Samuel Bendahan, interviews by author, October 24 and October 26, 2007.
he accused her of transferring funds illegally: “Inglês é detido nos EUA sob acusação de extorquir brasileira,” O Globo, translated from the Portuguese by the author, January 31, 1975.
In the weeks of arduous divorce negotiations: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007.
“Imagine how popular”: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007.
Lily and Edmond didn’t formally extricate themselves: “British Case Wastes Time: Judge,” New York Post, July 21, 1976.
SIX: “THE BILLIONAIRES’ CLUB”
She simply adored Claudio: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007. Bendahan also provided information about Lily’s relationship with her other children.
“For years, every ambassador”: Ana Bentes Bloch, interview by author, March 11, 2009.
“An event like Rio has never seen”: Perla Sigaud, society column, O Globo, May 7, 1983. Translated from the Portuguese by the author.
Years later, when they wanted to impress the Safras: Peter Truell, “A Fallen King in Search of a Lesser Throne,” New York Times, May 3, 1998.
“The wedding was truly spectacular”: Ricardo Stambowsky, interview by author, December 3, 2007.
“It was dawn”: Guilherme Castello Branco, interview by author, December 4, 2007.
“Life sometimes sends us difficult times”: Perla Sigaud, society column, O Globo, May 7, 1983. Translated by the author from the Portuguese.
“You don’t even know these people”: Burrough, p. 92. Many of the details about the Safra-American Express debacle are from Burrough’s book Vendetta.
“It was an economic decision”: Interview with a source close to the negotiations of the sale of Trade Development Bank to American Express, January 6, 2009.
“TDB ran like nothing we’d ever seen”: Burrough, p. 98.
“Safra’s a brilliant guy”: Nicholas D. Kristof, “Safra Quits as Chief of Bank Unit,” New York Times, October 23, 1984.
“Mr. Safra, a private sometimes eccentric”: David B. Hilder and George Anders, “Safra to Quit as American Express Head of International Banking, Sources Say,” Wall Street Journal, October 22, 1984.
Edmond arranged for the restaurant to be decorated: Meredith Etherington-Smith, “Eyeview,” Women’s Wear Daily, November 28, 1984.
“I feel as free as a bird”: Albert Nasser, interview by author, December 3, 2006.
“Nothing in this agreement shall impose”: Burrough, p. 138.
“a discreet, efficient and rapid channel”: Final Report for the District of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, August 4, 1993, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
“Mrs. L. Monteverde’s”: letter by Willard Zucker, December 13, 1971.
“Safra…exhorted his aides”: Burrough, p. 185.
“Lily and Edmond Safra’s doubleheader”: Dennis Thim, “The Gilded Lily,” in “Eye,” Women’s Wear Daily, August 8, 1988.
“La Leopolda was surely never this grand”: ibid.
Security was tight: John Fairchild, Chic Savages (Simon & Schuster, 1989), p. 196.
“the grounds were guarded as heavily as the White House”: Dennis Thim, “The Gilded Lily,” in “Eye,” Women’s Wear Daily, August 8, 1988.
“With the opening of a place like this”: ibid.
“The Safra event itself”: Fairchild, p. 196.
“Edmond brought Alouan to Brazil”: Albert Nasser, interview by author, January 27, 2008.
“Alouan was very rough”: Guilherme Castello Branco, interview by author, December 4, 2007.
the paid obituaries took up nearly two broadsheet pages: Paid obituaries of Claudio and Raphael Cohen, O Globo, February 19, 1989.
“I want to know why you are here”: Albert Nasser, interview by author, January 2008. Adriana’s comments were also repeated by several people who attended the funeral of Claudio and his son who did not want to be identified.
“I was so comfortable with him”: Bruno Astuto, “A Nora de Lily,” RG Vogue, November 2007. Carlos’ comments about his step-brother Claudio Cohen and relationship with the Safras after he married Isis, from RG Vogue, November 2007.
“it was Lily who took Claudio’s death the hardest: Ruth de Almeida Prado, interview by author, April 30, 2006.
This time, nobody bought the clunky PR move: “Behind the American Express Smear,” New York Post, August 9, 1989.
It’s unclear who at American Express knew about the smear campaign: Kurt Eichenwald, “Executive at American Express Quits,” New York Times, August 4, 1989.
SEVEN: “WHEN I GIVE LILY A DOLLAR, LILY SPENDS TWO DOLLARS”
“It was the anxiety”: Antonio Negreiros, interview by author, April 27, 2006.
Evelyne dictated her instructions: Evelyne Sigelmann Cohen, will, dated September 2, 1992, 23rd Notary Office, Rio de Janeiro. Translated from the Portuguese by the author.
“Evelyne died on a Friday”: Antonio Negreiros, interview by author, April 27, 2006.
“I try to remain unknown as much as possible”: Edmond Safra in “Safra, um banqueiro de 4,2 bilhões de dolares de ativo,” Jornal do Brasil, translated from the Portuguese by the author, May, 14, 1978.
“the beauty of the night”: Aileen Mehle, Suzy, Women’s Wear Daily, April 29, 1992.
She wore “pinky red chiffon by Valentino”: Aileen Mehle, Suzy, Women’s Wear Daily, July 15, 1992.
“Joseph Safra had just thrown a huge party”: Interview with a source close to the Safra family, January 12, 2009.
were fond of “elaborate decorations”: Fairchild, pp. 91–92.
As Edmond himself noted in an exchange: Fairchild, p. 92.
“It is the capital of the world”: Fairchild, ibid.
“Banker Edmond Safra and his wife, Lily, served so much caviar”: Fairchild, p. 91.
“Darling, I bought you an airplane today”: Ana Bentes Bloch, interview by author, March 11, 2009. Her late husband, Adolfo Bloch, overheard the Safras’ conversation at a luncheon with Lily and Edmond.
the old money families: Fairchild, p. 90.
“The number of bodyguards”: Aileen Mehle, Suzy, Women’s Wear Daily, August 12, 1991.
Nasser spent seventy-five days: The kidnapping of Ezequiel Edmond Nasser in São Paulo in 1994 is well documented in press reports in Brazil and the United States, including “The Safras of Brazil: Banking, Faith and Security,” Simon Romero, New York Times, December 8, 1999.
“so glorious and impeccable”: Aileen Mehle, Suzy, Women’s Wear Daily, September 13, 1996.
“There is no security system”: Samuel Cohen, transcript from Ted Maher’s trial, Le Tribunal Criminel de la Principauté de Monaco, November 25, 2002.
Cohen trained with the Mossad: Dominick Dunne, “Verdict in Monaco,” Vanity Fair, February 2003.
“As was the case with a number of Attia’s projects”: Eli Attia Architects v. Safra, No. 94 CIV. 2928 (SDNY 1996).
“He [Edmond] told me that the bill was the responsibility”: Eli Attia in “Case vs banker is building,” New York Post, December 5, 1995.
But in court papers: Eli Attia Architects v. Safra, No. 94 CIV. 2928 (SDNY 1996).
“We were having dinner with Lily and Edmond”: Albert Nasser, interview by author, December 3, 2006.
“The…party was a celebration”: W, September 1996.
“Lily was distraught after the accident”: Interview with a source close to the Safras, January 2009.
Edmond “called his brothers several times a day”: Sem Almaleh testimony, Maher trial transcript, Le Tribunal Criminel de la Principauté de Monaco, November 27, 2002.
“that Edmond wouldn’t speak to his brothers”: Albert Nasser, interview by author, December 3, 2006.
“He was a brother”: Joseph Safra, Maher trial transcript, Le Tribunal Criminel de la Principauté de Monaco, November 27, 2002.
“Lily cut him off after thirty years”: Albert Nasser, interview by author, January 27, 2008.
The Safras moved with their entourage of aides: Information about Edmond’s doctors and the experience in Toronto with Dr. Bruce Sutton is from interviews with unnamed sources who were close to the couple, January 2009.
Edmond was taking a potent cocktail of antidepressants: Nursing schedule from Monaco, obtained by the author.
the deal would “mark the end of independence”: Alan Cowell, “HSBC to Pay $10.3 billion for Republic,” New York Times, May 11, 1999.
“I am taking this action”: Jesse Angelo, “Safra’s Act of Pride—Coughs Up $450 m to protect holders,” New York Post, November 9, 1999.
EIGHT: “NOT OUR FAULT”
He was also a highly respected and dedicate
d nurse: From testimony of George Morelli, Maher trial transcript, Le Tribunal Criminel de la Principauté de Monaco, November 21, 2002.
In addition, Ted would have to sign: Confidentiality agreement, August 16, 1999, signed by Anthony Brittan.
Behind her back: Ted Maher, interview by author, March 5, 2008.
“Ted was strange in some ways”: Sonia Casiano Herkrath, Maher trial transcript, Le Tribunal Criminel de la Principauté de Monaco, November 21, 2002.
“I considered it the best job”: Ted Maher, Maher trial transcript, Le Tribunal Criminel de la Principauté de Monaco, November 21, 2002.
“In the day, he [Edmond] moved fairly well: Lily Safra, Maher trial transcript, Le Tribunal Criminel de la Principauté de Monaco, November 29, 2002.
According to the nightly schedule: Ted Maher, interview by author, March 5, 2008.
In addition to massaging his feet: From the nursing schedule for Edmond Safra in Monaco, December 1999, obtained by the author.
“Ironically, he was doing so much better”: Sonia Casiano Herkrath, Maher trial transcript, Le Tribunal Criminel de la Principauté de Monaco, November 21, 2002.
“We kissed each other”: Lily Safra testimony at Maher trial, Le Tribunal Criminel de la Principauté de Monaco, November 29, 2002.
“This evening”: Lily Safra testimony at Maher trial, ibid.
Later, when a different group of firefighters: Maher trial, Le Tribunal Criminel de la Principauté de Monaco, November 26, 2002.
the concern of law enforcement officials became the safety: From testimony of various police officers at the Maher trial, Le Tribunal Criminel de la Principauté de Monaco: Jean-Luc Belny (November 25, 2002), Bruno Bouery (November 25, 2002), and Jean-Marc Silvi (November 25, 2002).
Another police officer noted: Testimony of Olivier Jude, Maher trial, Le Tribunal Criminel de la Principauté de Monaco, November 25, 2002.
On the surface, everything appeared to be stacked up: Henri Veillard, Maher trial transcript, Le Tribunal Criminel de la Principauté de Monaco, November 27, 2002.
“The duration of the intervention of the emergency services”: Testimony of Henri Veillard, November 27, 2002.