A four-and-a-half-year divorce battle over control of Elite Model World, the agency that represents Kendall Jenner and Adriana Lima, has ended with fashion designer Julia Haart winning full ownership of the company.
Court papers show a judge finalized the divorce between Haart and Italian businessman Silvio Scaglia in August, awarding her 100% of the agency and the couple’s $57 million Tribeca apartment. Scaglia bought Elite Models in 2011 and named Haart chief executive in March 2019. The two married later that year, then split in 2022, setting off a string of lawsuits and countersuits over the business.
The proceedings, worth an estimated $90 million in total, grew increasingly contentious. A judge at one point issued arrest warrants for Scaglia during the litigation.
Forensic accounting uncovers spending
As part of the divorce case, Haart hired a forensic accountant to review company records, and Scaglia’s assistant testified during the hearings. According to the court, it received evidence that Scaglia had transferred “tens of millions of dollars to various third parties and entities including payments to himself and his paramour Michelle Marie Heinemann.” Scaglia’s attorneys have previously denied those allegations.
The accountant also told the court that company funds were used to buy “various luxury automobiles, such as two Bentleys, and a Porsche, as well as luxury jewelry from Van Cleef & Arpels.”
The court determined that the amount Scaglia allegedly moved out of the company was so large that it equaled or exceeded the value of his ownership stake, which is why experts concluded Haart should receive his remaining shares. She will also receive half of the funds Scaglia allegedly withdrew, which his former assistant said totals more than $25 million.
Haart calls decision vindication
Haart, who starred in Netflix’s “My Unorthodox Life” and was represented by the firm Chemtob, Moss, Forman, Breyda, said she was “profoundly grateful for the court’s decision awarding me 100% ownership of Elite… and for finally seeing the truth come out after four and a half years.”
“He accused me of misappropriating funds and using EWG for my personal benefit; the court found that he did exactly those things. Everything they accused me of doing is what they themselves did.”
She added, “In 2022, Silvio claimed I owned zero percent; today, he owns zero percent and I own 100 percent of EWG.”
Haart said the case is not fully resolved, noting that Scaglia and his associates have been held in contempt of court but that arrest warrants against them remain pending.
“There cannot be one set of laws for the rich and powerful and another for everyone else. For four and a half years, these men have repeatedly ignored court orders because they believed they could do so without consequence.”
Scaglia did not respond to requests for comment.
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