40G escort tab? It's a trick, he sez
By HELEN PETERSON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Oh what a night! Too bad Leonard Monfredo can't remember it.
The Gramercy Park man, who blacked out during what appears on credit card bills to be a $40,000 evening of Hefnerian debauchery, says he was really the victim of eight gold-digging escorts.
"The poor guy is embarrassed to death," said Kevin Claffey, attorney for Monfredo, 33. "The problem is, he doesn't remember a lot."
According to Monfredo's lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, he called Midnight Club Escorts in Jamaica, Queens, on March 19 "for the purpose of retaining the services of one of its escorts."
Fifteen hours later, however, he awoke with only the fuzziest of memories of the night - and three massive credit card bills. One credit card company deemed $20,000 in charges unauthorized, but two other banks, MBNA and Advanta Bank Corp., upheld a similar total, according to the suit.
Monfredo accuses one of the women, identified only as Jane Doe 1, of slipping him "a controlled substance" that put him into an "inebriated and semiconscious state."
The suit accuses the woman of inviting seven colleagues to his apartment, where they allegedly had a party with his credit cards. Monfredo says he did not realize there were eight women in his apartment until he was informed by his doorman the next day. "I guess the doorman thought he was having a party," Claffey said.
Claffey described Monfredo, a writer and photographer, as 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds.
"If it can happen to Lenny, it can happen to anyone," he said. "He's a big guy. He's in good shape.... Three guys couldn't take him. It took a woman."
Claffey said his client filed a complaint with the police, but said they considered it a civil matter.
The lawyer called the bill a financial hit "for a working guy."
The suit seeks $1 million in punitive damages from the escort service, plus $19,500 for the credit card charges that went through. MBNA, Advanta and Midnight Club Escorts had no immediate comment.
Originally published on July 28, 2005
By HELEN PETERSON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Oh what a night! Too bad Leonard Monfredo can't remember it.
The Gramercy Park man, who blacked out during what appears on credit card bills to be a $40,000 evening of Hefnerian debauchery, says he was really the victim of eight gold-digging escorts.
"The poor guy is embarrassed to death," said Kevin Claffey, attorney for Monfredo, 33. "The problem is, he doesn't remember a lot."
According to Monfredo's lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, he called Midnight Club Escorts in Jamaica, Queens, on March 19 "for the purpose of retaining the services of one of its escorts."
Fifteen hours later, however, he awoke with only the fuzziest of memories of the night - and three massive credit card bills. One credit card company deemed $20,000 in charges unauthorized, but two other banks, MBNA and Advanta Bank Corp., upheld a similar total, according to the suit.
Monfredo accuses one of the women, identified only as Jane Doe 1, of slipping him "a controlled substance" that put him into an "inebriated and semiconscious state."
The suit accuses the woman of inviting seven colleagues to his apartment, where they allegedly had a party with his credit cards. Monfredo says he did not realize there were eight women in his apartment until he was informed by his doorman the next day. "I guess the doorman thought he was having a party," Claffey said.
Claffey described Monfredo, a writer and photographer, as 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds.
"If it can happen to Lenny, it can happen to anyone," he said. "He's a big guy. He's in good shape.... Three guys couldn't take him. It took a woman."
Claffey said his client filed a complaint with the police, but said they considered it a civil matter.
The lawyer called the bill a financial hit "for a working guy."
The suit seeks $1 million in punitive damages from the escort service, plus $19,500 for the credit card charges that went through. MBNA, Advanta and Midnight Club Escorts had no immediate comment.
Originally published on July 28, 2005
