HABITAS hotel and hospitality management group co-founder Oliver Ripley was charged with “grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and falsifying business records” over what appears to have been alleged as a fraudulent charge back on his American Express card. He has pled to a mere misdemeanor and claims it was all a misunderstanding.
He says that his then-girlfriend Victoria’s Secret model Sara Sampaio refinanced her Manhattan condo and was left “with a $48,000 tax bill” which seems to suggest there was forgiveness of a portion of her original debt. He went ahead and put the taxes on his American Express card.
However “he soon became concerned that she had left the country and wasn’t planning on paying the bill back.” She’s Portuguese and just made a $48,000 windfall and perhaps she didn’t actually like him as much as he thought she did at New Years when she posted to Instagram from the Maldives.
Naturally then the jilted lover rang up American Express and “reversed the charges.” Only you don’t just get to tell American Express to give you your $48,000 back because you changed your mind. So his story must have been a bit more fanciful than that.
He claims to have been shocked that he couldn’t just have American Express bill her for the $48,000, but he eventually made good on the debt.
After finding out that the charge had not been reversed back to her and AmEx was left holding the debt, he paid the bill in full. Despite this, several months later “amid a lack of communication”, according to sources close to Ripley, the police pressed charges against him – until the entirety of the situation was explained
Meanwhile Sampaio returned to the country – but not to her ex – as her most recent instagram photo is from Coachella.
It always amazes me when supposedly successful business people don’t pay their credit card bills, and when famous people don’t. American Express sued Tori Spelling over unpaid charges and then had to sue to enforce their judgment. They even went after Iggy Azalea along with Lauryn Hill, Tyrese, and The Weinstein Company. 
Sometimes you can take one look at a woman and tell that she’s trouble.
It’s a useful skill to have.
Amazing how some who say they are rich just can’t bring themselves to pay their bills. That’s no reason to mistrust them of course.
I just don’t understand the number of likes people like Sarasapiao get. Like their heads weren’t big enough.
I mean, obviously she’s an INFLUENCER.
@toomanybooks Yes, but getting there can be a lot of fun.
472,269 likes for a photo of a kiss. 1,400 comments.
$48,000 to pay taxes to refinance a condo in Manhattan? Because a portion of the loan was forgiven? Was 48K income tax or property tax?
Lesson here: when someone says “Can you take a photo of us kissing?”, it’s pretend. But AMEX is not.