A rich cougar handed £750,000 to her Romanian toyboy 37 years her junior, only to have him blow it on online gambling, luxury cars, and watches.
Christiane Shellard, 66, is taking Cristian Mihalea, 29, to court to get most of her cash back, claiming it was just a loan to help him turn his life around. The divorcee said £500,000 was to buy a flat in her name where he could live until he could afford a mortgage and another £160,000 was for his father’s medical bills.
She also shelled out for a Porsche Panamera, which retails at almost £68,000, and more watches to add to the muscled playboy’s collection. Instead of going through with her plan, the former removalist dumped the money in Romanian bank accounts and lost it all gambling.
What he didn’t fritter away was spent on a bad gold deal, a Audemars Piguet watch costing at least £4,000, and a £42,000 GLS Mercedes for his sister Mirela. Mihalea now claims his only assets are £7,444 in a Lloyds bank account and a £4,000 Cartier watch.
‘Karma is a bitch and it is waiting for him,’ Ms Shellard said as the pair faced London’s High Court. The Romanian, who now runs Vos hair and beauty salon in Fulham, registered in his sister’s name, admitted to blowing all his ex-lover’s cash. But he claimed the money was a gift during their 18-month ‘full, loving and intimate relationship’ and he shouldn’t have to pay it back.
Mihalea’s legal argument did not start well as Judge Nicholas Cooke froze all his assets around the world as Ms Shellard’s lawyers investigate the money trail. ‘You’re not going to get away from the juggernaut that’s approaching by saying, ‘It’s too late, I have spent all the money’,’ the judge said. They will find whether you still have the money. The claim is… that you are telling a pack of lies.’
The pair met in Mihalea’s man-with-a-van days in 2016 after Ms Shellard divorced her headhunting firm boss husband in 2013. Just two years before he was boasting about blowing £37,000 on £250-a-pop prostitutes, but friends said his image was mostly smoke and mirrors. ‘I’m young, I’m good-looking and successful — so why shouldn’t I be allowed to enjoy my freedom?’ he said at the time.
Photo Credit: Getty
