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Divorce Judge Spares Spouse Over Gambling31 January 2001NEW YORK -- Jan 31, 2001 -- As reported by the Associated Press:``A Manhattan divorce judge has refused to cite a real estate tycoon for contempt although he disobeyed court orders and gambled with marital funds. She said she spared him because he won $1.14 million at the tables in Atlantic City with that money. ``State Supreme Court Justice Judith Gische denied the motion of Bella Sapir, 47, who charged that her husband, Tamir, 53, had wasted marital assets by gambling and buying a new Bentley despite the judge's restrictions. ``…A temporary restraining order issued in September restricts Sapir to spending only the money needed for his living expenses, `commensurate with what he had spent in the past.' The order also bars him from spending more than $100,000 on anything without court approval. ``Sapir, a former taxicab driver who owns numerous Manhattan office buildings, admitted that while sailing to Florida on his 160-foot yacht, which is crammed with marble and gold, he stopped to gamble in Atlantic City, where he won $1.14 million at the tables. ``The restraining order did not prohibit him from gambling, Gische said, but he violated the order when he risked more than $100,000 to gamble. ```…That is partially why the court cannot find him in contempt," Gische said. "Since he actually won money, which he deposited into a joint account, his actions did not actually defeat, impair or impede her [Bella Sapir's] rights…" |