U.S. News

Finance Exec Accused of Squatting Says Hamptons Mansion Owner Is Harassing Him

FIRE WITH FIRE

Paul Pion accused the owner and a prospective buyer of sending “defamatory memes” to his finance company to try and embarrass him.

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Matthew Peyton/Getty

Cantor Fitzgerald exec Paul Pion was last month accused of squatting in a Hamptons mansion—but he now claims the owner is harassing him and embarrassing him in an effort to force him out. Pion filed court documents alleging owner Damian Krause and prospective buyer Aaron Appel falsely painted him as a “squatter” in the press and sent “a series of defamatory memes ... to media outlets and the executive management of Cantor Fitzgerald, questioning my ethics, in a blatant effort to cause reputational harm.” In a lawsuit, Pion was accused of exploiting New York’s eviction moratorium, and being “an intolerable nuisance” who left the house looking “like an episode of Hoarders” in an attempt to ward off potential buyers.

Pion says in his countersuit that the house was only a mess because his wife and children were packing to visit him while he was away for work. “This is not idle harassment, and we fully intend to seek legal redress of these and other issues in due time,” Pion said, according to the New York Post. He also filed documents seeking dismissal of Krause's lawsuit, alleging he was never properly told his lease wouldn’t be renewed.

Read it at New York Post