Nigerian playboy and ally of former minister of petroleum, Deziani Allison, Kolawole Aluko is said to be the owner of the 79th-floor penthouse at the
Nigerian playboy and ally of former minister of petroleum, Deziani Allison, Kolawole Aluko is said to be the owner of the 79th-floor penthouse at the One57 tower on ‘Billionaires’ Row’, a swanky pad that could become the biggest residential foreclosure in New York history. The 48-year-old energy tycoon who is pals with Jay Z, Beyoncé and Naomi Campbell hasn’t been paying his bills on the $50.9 million luxury condo, and a European bank is forcing a sale next month.
The Luxembourg-based Banque Havilland, which issued a $35.3 million mortgage on the 6,240-square-foot spread at 157 E. 57th St., has listed as collateral Aluko’s 213-foot yacht, the Galactica Star, and is looking to collect what it’s owed plus interest, court documents show. On top of the unpaid mortgage that came due last fall, Aluko also has been racking up maintenance fees and taxes on the property. He has not been seen for some time, prompting speculation that he is hiding out on the Galactica Star.
The boat which Aluko rented to Jay Z and Beyoncé in 2015 for $900,000 a week, was last registered in Freeport, the Bahamas, on May 3, but is currently out of range, yacht trackers said. According to sources, Aluko did appear with the yacht at the ill-fated Ja Rule Fyre Festival music event in the Bahamas in late April. Prior to that, the Galactica Star left Cabo last year and was briefly berthed in Turkey, records show.
Aluko is also close pals with Leonardo DiCaprio, and partied with the Oscar winner at his birthday in New York in 2013 and even made large donations to the Oscar winning actor’s environmental charity.
Lately, Aluko has been dodging Nigerian authorities, who in February tried to freeze his assets including the apartment as part of a money-laundering probe. Aluko, who claims Switzerland as his residence, was among those who allegedly obtained lucrative contracts from Nigeria’s former oil minister, who has also been accused in a $1.76 billion scheme to defraud the government of oil sale profits that both have denied.
Billionaire pent house
