The once opera-loving philanthropist Alberto Vilar, 80, is seeking financial relief from what his lawyers describe as a destitute existence following his 2018 release from prison, an AP report says.
The lawyers told a Manhattan federal judge in a letter Thursday that Vilar is “a broken individual, penniless, and destitute.” They said he sleeps on a couch in a shared studio apartment and relies on a monthly $2,200 social security check. His attorneys asked that he no longer be required to pay hundreds of dollars monthly toward restitution they claimed was mostly satisfied.
Vilar was extremely rich but was sentenced to nine years in prison after his conviction on charges including conspiracy and investment adviser, mail and wire fraud.
Until then, he had given $225 million to opera houses and millions more to cultural and medical organizations around the world.
The lawyers said that Vilar pays $600 monthly for a Long Island City studio apartment he shares. His $2,200 social security check is reduced by hundreds of dollars when 15 percent is automatically subtracted to satisfy the judgments, the attorneys wrote. Allegedly most of the rest of the social security check is absorbed by food, medical expenses and medications. They said he owes about $15,000 in medical bills and has stopped taking some medications because he can no longer afford them.
