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Ghislaine Maxwell is facing fresh legal trouble over a personal injury lawsuit filed by an art dealer who tripped on the sidewalk outside her $15million New York City townhouse in 2015.
Sheldon Barr claims that Maxwell – who was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison Tuesday – ‘recklessly’ failed to maintain the concrete and caused him to fall to the ground and hit his head.
Barr claims he had to undergo knee surgery and that his ‘life changed’ because of the injuries which mean he can no longer walk up and down stairs.
The lawsuit claims that the Venetian art dealer, 84, has been left ‘disabled’ and seeks unspecified damages.
While Barr’s case was dismissed last year, his lawyers have now requested the decision be vacated and the matter is still ongoing.
DailyMail.com has learned that Maxwell was forced to sit for a deposition in the case in 2019 – before Epstein was arrested and Maxwell went into hiding – where she gave evasive answers about her pedophile boss, her husband Scott Borgerson and her business.
Barr’s complaint named 116 East 65th St LLC, the company which owned Maxwell’s house, and the City of New York as defendants.
Maxwell sold the property in 2016 after marrying Borgerson – Barr’s accident happened the year before.
Ghislaine Maxwell has been hit with a personal injury lawsuit filed by an art dealer who tripped on the sidewalk outside her $15million New York townhouse. This comes as Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday for sex trafficking underage girl to be abused by Jeffrey Epstein
Sheldon Barr, pictured left with husband Tom Gardner, claims that Maxwell ‘recklessly’ failed to maintain the concrete and caused him to fall to the ground and hit his head
Barr is seeking unspecified damages for the ‘severe and permanent injuries he sustained – which he claims ‘changed’ his life – outside of the New York townhouse (pictured)
The complaint, also filed on behalf of Barr’s husband Thomas Gardner, states: ‘The accident and resulting injuries occurred solely as the result of the carelessness, recklessness and negligence of the defendants in failing to keep and maintain in a safe, proper and passable condition (the sidewalk).
‘They allowed the area where the plaintiff was caused to fall to become and remain in an uneven, broken, defective and dangerous conditions and in failing to repair and maintain the sidewalk, in failing to properly warn pedestrians of the uneven and dangerous conditions that existed.’
The lawsuit claimed that the sidewalk was a ‘trap’ and that Barr suffered ‘severe and permanent injuries’ which resulted in ‘extreme pain, suffering and mental anguish and distress.’
The complaint states: ‘Plaintiff became disabled and incurred damages that are permanent in nature.’
In an affidavit, Barr said that on September 9, 2015 he was walking outside Maxwell’s home when he tripped, hit his head and ‘saw stars.’
The sidewalk where he tripped was raised an inch off the ground, Barr said.
Barr described that the pain he felt in his right knee, which also hit the ground, was 10 out of 10 and that he was bleeding.
Barr told his husband: ‘I think you better call 911. I can’t get up. I think I have been seriously hurt’.
Barr had an MRI done which showed that his right kneecap was broken in half.
His right leg was put in an immobilizer and he waited two weeks for an operation but it caused the pain to get ‘much, much worse’.
Barr said the pain was ‘intense’ and he had a ‘huge incision’ on his leg.
He said: ‘My knee was leaking blood. It was a total nightmare’.
In a complaint filed on behalf of his husband, Tom Gardner alleged the accident occurred as a result of ‘recklessness and negligence of the defendants in failing to keep and maintain’ the sidewalk ‘in a safe, proper and passable condition’
In an affidavit, Barr said that on September 9, 2015 he was walking outside Maxwell’s home when he tripped on the sidewalk – which he claims was raised an inch off the ground – and hit his head
Maxwell sold the property a year after the alleged accident took place in 2016 after marrying now ex-husband Scott Borgerson
Barr was put on the powerful painkiller OxyContin until an X-ray showed the bone hadn’t fused and that one of the pins that had to be put in had to be removed because it had bent.
After the pin was taken our Barr went through months of physical therapy but he still cannot walk up and down stairs, he said.
Barr said that he takes two Advil a day because the pain is ‘constant’.
In their response Maxwell’s lawyers denied any culpability and said that any injuries sustained by Barr were ’caused by culpable conduct and / or want of care’ on the part of Barr.
The City of New York also denied responsibility and said that Barr ‘should have known the risks’ of walking along a public sidewalk.
During the lawsuit Barr’s lawyers filed an article to the docket about Maxwell’s ties to Epstein with the title: ‘Where is Ghislaine Maxwell? Has she done a runner?’
The article talked about Maxwell’s links to Epstein and how she was part of a ‘massive underage sex pyramid scheme’.
Maxwell was forced to hand over tax returns from TerraMar, her nonprofit devoted to saving the world’s oceans which was bankrolled by Epstein.
The lawsuit delved into whether or not Maxwell was running a business out of the townhouse, a crucial factor in determining her liability.
Barr’s lawyers referred to Maxwell’s indictment for sex trafficking, quoting from a prosecution statement which said that she ‘repeatedly lied when questioned about her conduct’ to try and show she was an unreliable witness in the personal injury lawsuit too.
Sheldon Barr (right) claims he had to undergo knee surgery and that his ‘life changed’ because of the injuries which mean he cannot walk up and down stairs
Barr’s complaint named 116 East 65th St LLC, the company which owned Maxwell’s house, and the City of New York as defendants
Maxwell’s deposition was requested by Barr’s lawyer Larry Fallek and the questioning focused on Ellmax, the consulting business that Maxwell ran between 2010 and 2013.
It took place in April 2019, four months before Epstein was arrested and Maxwell went into hiding.
Maxwell, whose contacts book included Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew, said: ‘It was a vehicle for me to be able to advise companies on boards of directors and to help with companies for conferences and speakers for their conference.
Epstein was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges when he hanged himself in his cell in August 2019. His accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of procuring underage girls in a federal trial last year
Asked to elaborate, Maxwell said it was ‘mostly technology businesses’.
She said: ‘Because I know a lot of people in technology. It could be anything as a board of directors are needed in any type of company. And people of good character and outstanding ability in business are always needed. And I, fortunately, have a lot of friends and people in that area and I will be able to place people in those types of companies’
Maxwell claimed that most of the companies she worked for were in Los Angeles and said she went there and London ‘multiple times’.
But despite her bragging Maxwell claimed that she wound up Ellmax in 2013 because ‘it wasn’t going to succeed and it was just useless, and I just stopped it’.
Maxwell was asked by Barr’s lawyer what she did before Ellmax.
She claimed: ‘I was unemployed. I believe around 2000 – 2009 or (2008)’
Maxwell’s criminality for which she will be sentenced ranged from 1994 to 2004, though prosecutors argue she continued to associate with Epstein after that.
In their sentencing memo they pointed out that Maxwell had a desk at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion when police raided it in 2005.
Prosecutors say Maxwell went into hiding after Epstein’s suicide, moving into a gated New Hampshire home she bought for $1million with her husband Scott Borgerson— and wrapping her cellphone in foil to ward off hacking
Borgerson bought this $2.4million home in Manchester-by-the-Sea in June 2016. After Maxwell moved in, they were unable to find peace in their community
As of 2007, Epstein transferred $7.7million to the Maxwell’s personal bank account.
The memo states that Maxwell ‘remained a close associate of Jeffrey
Epstein and continued to profit from their criminal relationship, long past 2004′.
Maxwell was asked how she got to know Darren Indyke, the lawyer who founded the LLC which owned her townhouse.
She said that he ‘worked for a friend of mine’, adding that it was a ‘gentleman called Mr. Epstein’.
Fallek asked: ‘Is that Jeffrey Epstein?’
Maxwell said: ‘Yes’.
In another evasive moment Maxwell was asked about her marital status. She responded that she wasn’t married ‘at the time of this’ incident on September 15 2016.
But at the time of the deposition she was married to her estranged husband, Scott Borgerson, a former tech executive.
The two have now split and Borgerson reportedly dumped her by phone while she was in prison awaiting trial.
Bizarrely, Michael Douglas’ ex-wife Diandra Douglas was mentioned by Maxwell who claimed that she lived next door to the property.
Maxwell said that the tree outside her property belonged to Diandra Douglas and that as a result she never maintained it.
Barr’s case was dismissed in April last year but his lawyers have requested to vacate that decision and the matter is still ongoing.
Barr and his lawyer Larry Fallek declined to comment.
Maxwell’s lawyer Matthew Cuomo did not respond to a request for comment.
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