Barneys heir served with explosive tax-fraud – Business News
An heir to the fallen Barneys luxurious empire received served with an explosive tax-fraud lawsuit from his estranged brother — whereas he was within the center of selling his gossipy new memoir final week at a New York City bookstore, The Post has discovered.
Gene Pressman, 74, was signing copies of his new guide, “They All Came to Barneys: A Personal History of the World’s Greatest Store,” at Rizzoli Bookstore in Manhattan final Tuesday when he received a nasty shock, in keeping with a source briefed on the encounter.
A so-called “process server” — a skilled employed at hand courtroom paperwork to defendants — had purchased a copy of the fashion-infused tome and stood in line with different fashionistas to get it signed by Pressman, sources stated.
Gene Pressman has been going selling his new guide “They All Came to Barneys.”
But when it was his flip to step up to the desk, as an alternative of handing Pressman the guide to signal the method server pulled out a lawsuit and handed it to Pressman, in keeping with sources.
The legal salvo was from his 71-year-old brother Bob Pressman — who as solely reported by The Post final month, has accused his brother Gene, his two sisters and their late mom, Phyllis, of orchestrating an elaborate tax fraud scheme that allegedly cheated New York state out of $20 million.
“Gene went crazy — he was screaming and cursing him out,” in keeping with one source briefed on the bookstore incident. “He was really freaked out by it.”
Randall Fox, a lawyer representing Bob Pressman, confirmed that Gene Pressman was “not a happy camper” and that he “cursed” when he received the go well with, however the legal professional declined to elaborate on the incident.
“It makes no difference for the case whether [Gene] Pressman received the service of process with grace or without,” Fox informed The Post. “What matters is that he was served with process and now his 20 days time to respond to the case begins.”
Gene Pressman and his brother Bob, sporting a tie, ran Barneys collectively. Fairchild Archive through Getty Images
Gene and Bob’s sisters – Elizabeth-Pressman Neubardt and Nancy-Pressman Dressler – stay within the New York metro space and have been already served, in keeping with Fox.
Gene — who lives in West Palm Beach, Fla. and was visiting New York for his guide tour — didn’t reply to an electronic mail and cellphone message in search of remark. Bob Pressman declined to remark.
The bombshell civil go well with – which solely got here to mild after a choose unsealed it in June – claims that the allegedly tax-cheating members of the Pressman household could possibly be chargeable for upwards of $50 million in back taxes and penalties.
The amended grievance, filed in New York State Supreme Court, lists Bob Pressman as a whistleblower beneath the New York False Claims Act, which might entitle him to up to 30% of any restoration. He filed his authentic grievance in July 2024.
The go well with alleges that his household falsely claimed that their mom, Phyllis Pressman, resided in West Palm Beach, Fla., to keep away from paying the Empire State’s onerous property tax.
In truth, the widow of retail legend Fred Pressman – who famously remodeled his father Barney’s males’s go well with business into a luxurious empire within the Sixties – had been residing year-round in her oceanfront mansion in Southampton, NY, for the final six years of her life, the go well with claims.
Phyllis Pressman handed away final 12 months at age 95 – and left her youngest son, Bob, nothing from her estimated $100 million property, in keeping with the grievance.
Phyllis Pressman in 1993. Michael Schwartz/New York Post
Newlyweds Phyllis and Fred Pressman in 1949.
Her belongings included the 2.3-acre, oceanfront unfold at 346 Meadow Ln. in Southampton that’s presently on the block for $38.5 million. Her swanky Upper East Side house, listed for $3.95 million, is in contract.
Bob Pressman and his siblings had labored collectively at Barneys, presiding over an aggressive growth and chapter submitting in 1996. Their relationship deteriorated after the household offered their stake in Barneys more than 25 years in the past.
As solely reported by The Post, Bob Pressman had beforehand labored on an as-yet-unpublished manuscript for an incendiary tell-all guide that blamed his household for Barney’s demise.
The manuscript was by no means completed, sources informed The Post.
In it, nevertheless, Bob accused his brother Gene of working Barneys into the ground with lavish spending initiatives, at the same time as he allegedly spent his time partying by way of the Eighties at Studio 54.
Gene Pressman with Tonne Goodman and Christy Turlington. Marcy Swingle/Shutterstock
At the time, Gene fired back, accusing his brother of having “a casual relationship with the truth” and claiming, “Bob conveniently forgets he was in fact the co-CEO responsible for the financial stability of firm, a role in which by all measures he massively failed.”
Bob was cut out of his mom’s will after years of household squabbling, capped by his refusal to take part within the alleged tax fraud, in keeping with a source close to the case. A trust settlement drawn up by Phyllis’s attorneys declared, “Bob doesn’t get anything for reasons he well knows,” a source close to the case informed The Post.
Bob’s sisters, Elizabeth and Nancy, who have been patrons for Barneys, sued him a number of years after the retailer’s 1996 chapter, accusing him of dishonest them out of $30 million from the business. Bob, who was in charge of the company’s funds on the time, denied the allegations.
A New York choose awarded the sisters $11.3 million in 2002. Their brother appealed the award.
