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(JTA) – Stan Polovets, an oil trade government who used his wealth and connections to assist set up one of the prestigious awards within the Jewish world, has been accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a lady he took out on a date.
The girl, recognized solely as Jane Doe 1, made the allegations in a civil lawsuit filed in opposition to Polovets, the CEO of the Genesis Prize Basis, in Manhattan final week. She is demanding monetary compensation whose quantity can be decided in courtroom.
The Genesis Prize yearly acknowledges excellent achievement by Jewish people by a ceremony and a $1 million grant that’s sometimes distributed to charity. The prominence of the award’s winners — a listing that features Michael Bloomberg, Natalie Portman, and Natan Sharansky — has elevated the prize’s profile and led folks to name it the “Jewish Nobel Prize.”
Talking by his lawyer, Polovets has denied the allegations and accused the girl of concentrating on him for his wealth.
“He fully and unequivocally denies the allegations and appears ahead to clearing his identify in a courtroom on the acceptable time,” mentioned lawyer Mark Bederow. “We imagine that that is nothing greater than an try and extract cash from Mr. Polovets.”
Polovets is separated from his spouse, Erina Polovets, who filed for divorce in January 2021; the courtroom proceedings are ongoing.
The muse, which is registered in Israel and maintains an workplace in New York, launched an announcement saying that it stands behind Polovets.
“The muse believes that false accusations of sexual assault injure not solely the particular person falsely accused, but in addition survivors of sexual assault,” the assertion says. “The vital philanthropic work of The Genesis Prize Basis will proceed with out disruption.”
In keeping with the lawsuit, Polovets met the girl, a single mom of a younger baby, by a matchmaker in the summertime of 2021. On their second date, in December 2021, the 2 went to see play and afterward had a drink on the Skylark, a luxurious cocktail lounge in midtown Manhattan.
It was on the Skylark that Polovets is alleged to have slipped a drug into her drink. The lawsuit says that she was “all of a sudden disoriented and commenced to lose management of her motor features” and was “overwhelmed by misery, confusion, and worry.” A blood check later performed by a non-public lab confirmed traces of benzodiazepines, a category of medicine generally referred to as roofies or the date rape drug, based on the lawsuit.
The girl claims that Polovets took benefit of her diminished state and prevented her from catching a experience house. He allegedly took her to his house and sexually assaulted her as she got here out and in of consciousness.
In keeping with one other allegation within the lawsuit, the Skylark deliberately destroyed safety footage that was later sought by regulation enforcement officers. The lawsuit refers to an ongoing felony investigation into her alleged assault.
Polovets’ lawyer mentioned his consumer has absolutely cooperated with the New York Police Division and that he hasn’t heard from police since November 2022. No felony prices have been filed in opposition to Polovets.
The Skylark mentioned it can’t but reply to the allegation in opposition to it.
“The Skylark was simply made conscious of the grievance and we’re within the technique of investigating the claims. As anybody would, we now have nice empathy for the sufferer,” the lounge’s lawyer mentioned. “Nonetheless, till we all know all of the details, we’re not ready to make any assertion with regard to the allegations apart from to say we’ll take this matter severely and are investigating.”
A Russia-born American businessman, Polovets is a veteran deal maker within the oil and fuel trade. In 2007, he teamed up with Russian billionaire oligarchs Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven, and German Khan to discovered the Genesis Philanthropy Group, whose unique philanthropic focus was aiding the Jews of the previous Soviet Union. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine final yr, the three oligarchs have been positioned underneath Western sanctions and subsequently resigned from its board. Polovets led GPG till 2014 and helped spin off the Genesis Prize as an impartial entity with a $100 million endowment in 2012.
In Could, the Genesis Prize introduced it could bestow a particular recognition marking its tenth anniversary on Barbra Streisand. A ceremony for the singer and actress — who pledged to direct her $1 million prize to teams geared toward defending the surroundings, selling ladies’s well being, combating disinformation within the media and aiding the folks of Ukraine — is slated to happen subsequent month in Los Angeles.
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