An NYC model has alleged she was drugged and scammed out of $1,500 by staffers at a high-profile Lower East Side bar - which she claims was perpetrated in part by a comely transgender woman in cahoots with the restaurant workers.
Manhattan's Anna Tchorbadjiev made the claims in a sensational new suit filed in New York Supreme Court, which names Madison Square Garden, the bar's then-owner, as a defendant. It demands $1.5 million in damages.
In it, attorneys for 25-year-old Tchorbadjiev - whom has modeled for the likes of Harper’s Bazaar and Glamour - claim employees at the establishment knowingly conspired with the con artist to poison and rob her earlier this year.
Identified in court documents as Angela Acosta de Mastronardi, the brunette allegedly brought Tchorbadjiev to the bar during a night of drinking - before the model suddenly found herself ill upon taking a first sip of her espresso martini.
The suit goes on to claim that de Mastronardi went on accompany the model out of the restaurant, before bringing her to another bar owned by the same people for 'water' - while snatching her credit cards in the process.
Manhattan's Anna Tchorbadjiev made the claims in a sensational new suit filed in New York Supreme Court, which names Madison Square Garden, the then-owner, as a defendant
Identified in court documents as Angela Acosta de Mastronardi (seen here), the comely trans woman allegedly brought Tchorbadjiev to the bar during a night of drinking with the intent to scam her - all at the behest of staffers at the bar
Part of the trendy Tao Group, the bar, Little Sister Lounge, was sold to Mohari Hospitality for $550 million earlier this month. Prior to that, it was owned by the well-off media company
After coming to her senses and confronting the woman, she realized she had been charged more than $1,500 despite only having two drinks, with cops later telling her de Mastronardi had a history of similar cons back when she was a man.
'Thank God I’m OK,' Tchorbadjiev, who models under the name Anna Alimani, told the New York Post Saturday after the outlet broke the news on the suit, which comes weeks after the bar, part of the famed Tao Group of restaurant, was sold to Mohari Hospitality for $550 million.
'We were all chilling. It seemed very normal,' she said, recalling how she was introduced to de Mastronardi by a pal at the posh Baccarat Hotel further up in Midtown, and at that point did not even know she was transgender.
She remembered how the young woman, whose social media is rife with her own modeling photos, was clad in a designer Versace dress and immediately friendly.
'I had no reason to get suspicious of this person.'
But things soon changed after the trans woman suggested the women continue their night out at Little Sister - one of several high-end clubs belonging to the restaurant group.
When the group got there, Tchorbadjiev said that de Mastronardi offered to pay, but was told by staffers that her card had been declined.
A working model, Tchorbadjiev generously offered up her card instead - but about five minutes into her first sips of an espresso martini, found herself hopelessly sick.
Attorneys for 25-year-old Tchorbadjiev - who has modeled for the likes of Harper’s Bazaar and Glamour - claim employees knowingly conspired with the con artist to poison and rob her
The model said she was introduced to de Mastronardi (seen here) by a pal at the posh Baccarat Hotel, not knowing she was transgender. She was clad in a designer Versace dress and friendly, but allegedly tried to steal her credit cards and conspire with staff to drug the model
The suit goes on to claim that de Mastronardi (seen here) went on accompany the model out of the restaurant, before bringing her to another bar owned by the same people for 'water' - while snatching her credit cards in the process
'She offered to pay and then her card declined,' Tchorbadjiev, a veteran of both Paris and New York fashion weeks, told the outlet. 'I was like, "Let me pay,"' before whipping out her American Express Black card.
After becoming ill, lawyers for Tchorbadjiev said she closed the tab and left - with de Mastronardi, allegedly only feigning the part of a doting friend, following close behind.
The suit goes on to claim the duo got in a cab - where de Mastronardi brought up anther suggestion: stopping 'for water' at another Tao-owed joint, Lavo on 58th Street.
However, at that point, Tchorbadjiev checked her wallet and realized her credit cards were missing. Immediately, she confronted her new acquaintance about the missing items.
The alleged scammer denied any involvement in the cards' disappearance, spurring Tchorbadjiev to grab her 'by the hair' and demand she return them, she told The Post.
The outburst, she said, prompted de Mastronardi - a slight of build brunette whose social media indicates she began transition sometime after 2015 and previously lived in Florida - to finally produce them and drop them into the model’s purse.
At that point, the model claimed de Mastronardi continued to follow her, but was eventually deterred after Tchorbadjiev ushered her away physically
'I was like, "No way, bitch, you’ll rob me blind." I had to push her out of the elevator,' she recalled to the Post of the encounter.
A working model, Tchorbadjiev said she offered up her card after de Mastronardi was declined - but about five minutes into her first sips of an espresso martini, found herself hopelessly sick
After becoming ill, lawyers for Tchorbadjiev said she closed the tab and left - with de Mastronardi, allegedly only feigning the part of a doting friend, following close behind
Coming to her senses and reporting the incidents to cops, the model was allegedly told by the NYPD that de Mastronardi (seen here a few years ago) has a history of similar cons back when she was a man
However, it was not until after she separated from the suspected scammer that she found two separate credit card charges she did not recognize, both from Little Sister.
Both were designated as tips, with one set $500 and the other at $1,000.
Tchorbadjiev immediately reported the charges and preceding ordeal to the NYPD, after which a detective revealed to her that de Mastronardi was transgender, and had a history of similar cons in Vegas, Miami, and New York.
The investigator reportedly told her that other victims of the scammer have not come forward due to being too embarrassed to come forward, with no arrests relating to de Mastronardi's alleged exploits ever being made.
'That’s how people get away with this,' claimed Alimani’s Long Island-based lawyer, Steve Legum, of how the alleged scammer has been allowed to run rampant, even know.
'If you’re not going to complain, they’re not going to take these people out of circulation'.
On behalf of his client, Legum is demanding Madison Square Garden Entertainment fork over $1.5 million, claiming bar employees were part of de Mastronardi's scam and eventually split the stolen cash.
MSG Entertainment declined to comment, while Tao Group spokesman confirmed that they were cooperating with the NYPD as the case makes its way through the city's courts.
'We are cooperating on this matter with the NYPD, who are investigating this issue.'
De Mastronardi, meanwhile, whose social media also indicates she's either from or spent time in Venezuela, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawsuit has yet to be resolved.
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