This guy must be tone deaf.
A prominent Manhattan lawyer at a white-shoe firm bought his Playboy-bunny fiancée a $215,000 diamond engagement ring -- but refuses to pay for his teenage daughter’s $12,000 hearing aids.
Ira Schacter, 51, who works for the powerhouse firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, is stuck in a vicious divorce battle with his estranged wife, Janice, 48.
The scorned wife says that while Schacter was lavishing his bombshell fiancée, Lace Rose Allenius, 26, with bling, he was ignoring a 2010 court order that gives Janice Schacter “legal decision-making” for the “physical auditory care to the extent provided by a doctor, audiologist or hearing-aids provider.
I don’t understand how a father can give a $215,000 ring to a Playboy girl and then deny his daughter’s hearing aids,” Janice told The Post. “Maybe someone can explain it to me.”
The hearing aids were bought for Arielle Schacter, 17, who suffers from hearing loss and needs the devices from Minneapolis firm Starkey.
While admitting his client has refused to pay the hearing-aid bill, Ira Schacter’s lawyer, Ashish Joshi, insists that Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Laura E. Drager has said he is not responsible for expenses unless he gives prior approval.
I love my daughter dearly, and her medical condition and her needs are of paramount importance to me,” Schacter said.
He declined further comment.
Drager has not yet ruled on the issue but has said at least once in court that Ira must give prior approval for unusual expenses, according to a court transcript.
But Janice added that her husband “claims I didn’t provide documentation and didn’t consult him. Is this about me or is this about his daughter? The court order is clear -- that he has to pay for hearing aids.”
A mediator has to resolve the issue.
What Schacter did pay for was Allenius’ ring for their engagement, which she broke off two months ago.
Allenius, who was a Playboy “co-ed of the week” in 2004, promptly returned the 8.5-carat ring and said she and Ira remain the best of friends.
I don’t know anything about the issue with the hearing aids. This is the first time that I’m hearing of it,” Allenius said. “I wish all the best for the entire Schacter family.”
She said she doesn’t know whether he sold the ring she returned.
I can’t imagine that Ira would not pay for Arielle’s hearing aids. I know he has always paid for her hearing aids in the past. He’s done tremendous things for both his children,” Allenius said.
Allenius was a 19-year-old Florida co-ed when she posed nude for Playboy in 2004. Before her engagement to Schacter, she dated actor Matt Dillon for two years.
She’s currently working as a florist in Manhattan and caring for her 3-year-old daughter.
Schacter’s lawyer said his client provides Janice with a lifestyle fit for a queen.
Joshi said Ira pays her $60,000 every month -- a sum she disputes -- for maintenance for her and their children in their $3.2 million Upper East Side townhouse.
Janice, he said, also takes expensive vacations, including a recent trip to South Africa and one to Europe two years ago during which her son racked up an $11,000 cellphone bill.
It was ridiculous,” Joshi said.
He also pays tuition for his daughter and 13-year-old son at expensive private schools, Joshi said.
Mr. Schacter has said to the court, ‘I’m not a checkbook; I’m not an ATM; I’m a father.’ He has to be consulted in advance,” Joshi said.
Oy vey Darlink! Another plain ordinary man who thinks this is true love. Take away your wallet and she wouldn't look at him twice let alone once. His daughter should be his priority . Whatever he and his wife are going through should NOT affect his children. Silly middle aged man who needs a Playboy bunny as his trophy handbag to boost his self esteem. SAD!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not an ATM". I'm pretty sure that playboy bunny saw you as one! Idiot.
ReplyDeleteThe wife is getting $60k a month, that is a lot of cash. The father is also paying expenses for the children. I could see how an estranged almost X-wife who had decision making discretion over medical decisions may be inclined to stick it to the X-hubby by running up medical bills. As the daughter with the hearing problem has had this problem, does she not already have hearing aids? Are these new ones upgrades? How much of an upgrade? Are the old ones not working? My sister has a cochlear implant and a hearing aid and her hearing aid lasts a very long time without need of replacement. I want more detailed and comprehensive information. I am not siding with the father, I just want more investigative reporting and more info. If I were him even if I felt the wife was trying to stick it to me, I would not use my child as a pawn, I would just get my dear daughter the hearing aids.
ReplyDeleteOh please. Running up medical bills? Why should the 13 year old not receive the best hearing aide, the $13k for a medical necessity vs over $200K for an ego stroke? How is this even a comparison?
ReplyDeleteThe big picture is how Judge Laura Drager refuses to enforce her own orders and decisions in her court room. Another case of her deciding with the wealthy party against her own order. This Judge is for sale to the monied party. Where are the investigators..Janice Schacter, Susan Glascoff, Chana Taub, Stephanie Lerner...these are only a few of the known victims. Judge Drager has impoverished thousands of women and child to the glee of wealthy men in this city who would rather stick it to their ex's than provide for the best interests of the children. This Judge is corrupt and bribed and needs to be disrobed and jailed! hello federal agents everywhere...