New York model claims she was drugged and scammed at Tao Group bar

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go through Catherine Bonello

April 22, 2023 | 10:05 am

A model claims she was drugged and scammed by a trans woman at an East Village club, where the then-Madison Square Garden hotspot was.

The alleged scam, now the subject of a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit, recalls A string of drugs and robberies at a gay nightclub The alleged victim, Anna Tchorbadjiev, 25, said she modeled under the name Anna Alimani in the Big Apple that killed two men from drug overdoses.

“Thank God I’m fine,” she said.

Alimani was out drinking with a friend at the Baccarat Hotel downtown when a friend introduced her to an acquaintance, Angela Acosta de Mastronardi, a young brunette in a yellow Versace dress.

“We’re all shuddering. It seems normal,” said Ali Mani, a real estate agent. walk through paris and New York fashion week and Decorate the cover Harper’s Bazaar and the international version of Glamor. “I have no reason to doubt this man.”

Angela allegedly suggested they continue drinking at the Little Sister Lounge, one of a string of high-end clubs like Lavo, Marquee, and part of the Tao group — which was then owned by Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. Recently sold Tao Group to Mohari Hospitality $550 million.

“She offered to pay, but her card was declined, and I said, ‘Let me pay,'” the Upper East Side resident recalled, pulling out her black Amex card.

About five minutes after she drank her first espresso martini, Alimani got sick, closed the tab and left quickly, she said. Angela followed, jumping into a cab with her, and even suggested they stop at Lavo, another Tao Group branch, to “get some water,” Alimani said.

Alimani checked her wallet, found her credit card was missing, and confronted Angela.

Angela allegedly refused to take anything until Alimani “grabbed her hair,” which she said prompted the alleged scammer to place them in the model’s purse.

Alimani alleges that Angela then tried to follow her into her building.

“I was like, ‘No, bitch, you’re going to steal my eye.’ I had to push her out of the elevator,” she said.

She allegedly discovered two separate credit card charges from Little Sister: a $500 tip for two drinks and another $1,000 in “tips.”

She reported the incident to the NYPD, and a detective claimed that Angela was actually a man with similar crimes in Las Vegas, Miami and New York.

Detectives told her the victims were too shy to come forward. The NYPD said no arrests have been made.

“This is how people get away with it,” said Alimani’s attorney, Steve Legum. “If you didn’t want to complain, they wouldn’t take these guys out of circulation.”

Alimani is suing Madison Square Garden Entertainment for $1.5 million, alleging in Manhattan Supreme Court filings that bar employees cooperated with scammers and split the stolen cash.

The alleged scammer could not be reached for comment. MSG Entertainment declined to comment. “We are cooperating with the NYPD on this matter, which is investigating the matter,” a Tao Group spokesman said.