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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Mogul Sues Ex, Who’s Charged With Murder

MANHATTAN (CN) - The wealthy ex-husband of a woman accused of killing her 8-year-old autistic son by force-feeding him prescription pills claims in court that she defamed him to the New York Daily News to "advance her defense."

Raymond A. Mirra Jr. sued his ex-wife, Gigi Jordan, in Federal Court.

Jordan is in jail pending trial for murder. She is charged with killing her son, Jude, at the Peninsula Hotel in February 2010, after which she allegedly tried to kill herself.

Mirra, a pharmaceutical millionaire, claims his ex told the Daily News in an interview that he had ties to the Philadelphia mob, was involved selling black-market HIV drugs, stole millions from her, plotted her murder or planned to have her institutionalized, and that he "financially induced" her second husband - Jude's biological father - to abuse and harass her and the boy. She also falsely accused him of having her followed, the 42-page lawsuit states.

The Daily News published the story on Aug. 19, 2012, under the headline, "EXCLUSIVE: Gigi Jordan explains what drove her to kill her 8-year-old son and attempt suicide."

In the article, she accused Mirra of adopting the boy only to shield his own assets, and of hiring the boy's biological father, (nonparty) Emil Tzekov, a yoga instructor, to drive her crazy.

She falsely accused Mirra of making $274 million in the black market for HIV and hemophiliac prescriptions through one of his companies, Allion Healthcare, Mirra says in the complaint.

Mirra, who describes himself in the lawsuit as a self-made man with humble beginnings who became a pharmaceutical magnate, claims that he and Jordan started out as business partners, but their relationship grew and they were married in 1998.

He claims Jordan ended their relationship and moved to San Francisco that year, though they remained married and their assets remained commingled.

Jordan refused to divorce Mirra after he met his current wife in 1999, Mirra says in the complaint. In 2001, Jordan became pregnant with Jude by Tzekov, Mirra claims.

While in delivery, Jordan asked that Mirra allow her to give the boy his surname, and he agreed, he says in the complaint.

They divorced in November 2001, and Jordan married Tzekov, who was not a U.S. citizen at the time, Mirra says in the lawsuit. He claims that Tzekov agreed to terminate his parental rights to the boy, and signed a pre-nuptial agreement.

Tzekov and Jordan separated, Mirra says, and Jordan asked him to give Tzekov a "financial incentive" to move to San Francisco, which Mirra says he agreed to do.

He also agreed to provide a rental for Tzekov in San Francisco, he says.

In 2003, the boy began to show "signs of developmental difficulty," according to the complaint.

"Ms. Jordan subsequently spent years travelling around the country seeking various treatment and therapies for Jude, including but not limited to, an experimental stem cell transplant procedure, shock therapy [and] extraction of all his teeth," the lawsuit states.

During that time, Mirra claims, Jordan demanded his help arranging for housekeepers, caretakers and nannies, some of whom lasted "for only one day."

By March 2008, Mirra formed a company called Biomed, and the parties separated assets, Mirra says.

That year, Jordan "developed a concern that her son Jude was neither autistic nor suffering from any other disorder, but rather had been the victim of sexual abuse and was psychologically traumatized," the lawsuit states. "She began accusing various people of abusing Jude, even though, on information and belief, she herself was by Jude's side at all hours of the day."

In the fall of 2008, Jordan took Jude to Wyoming to have an unscheduled meeting with a child abuse specialist, the lawsuit states.

According to the complaint, Jordan was met by police at the airport and taken into custody and retained at the Behavioral Health department of a local hospital. The boy was placed in a shelter.

A Wyoming assistant district attorney moved to place Jude in a shelter care away from Jordan, "citing concerns about the medications that Jude was on and the treatments he was receiving, in addition to 'her flying all over the country with this child, not maintaining stability for the child while being treated for autism," the lawsuit states.

Mirra says the judge released Jude to Jordan, but the judge added, "chillingly": "I'm sure the time will come when recriminations are made saying somebody in authority should have seen this coming and acted to prevent it. That's what's on everybody's minds here. That's the elephant in the room that nobody talks about."

The boy was found dead from a drug overdose in a suite at the Peninsula Hotel in Manhattan on Feb. 4, 2010. His mother was also in the suite, the lawsuit states.

Jordan was charged with murder and is awaiting trial. She has twice tried, unsuccessfully, to be released on millions of dollars of cash bonds.

Mirra claims her defamatory statements caused him to lose business opportunities, and that he is no longer able to attach his name to business and charity organizations "without a real justifiable fear that his damaged reputation will erode the reputation of such organizations."

He says he's also had to distance himself from his own companies and his children's friends.

He claims that in August 2012 Jordan hired a team of investigators to follow him.

Mirra seeks damages for slander, invasion of privacy and intrusion. He also wants the newspaper to publish a retraction. The Daily News, however, is not named as a defendant.

Mirra is represented by Robert Raskopf with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.

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