Britain’s Princess Beatrice’s playboy ex ruthlessly scammed his best friend out of his life savings just months before his shocking death from a drug overdose, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Paolo Liuzzo begged his close friend Arshad Sadikeen to lend him almost $60,000 so he could take his latest conquest on a luxury cruise to the Caribbean.
When he couldn’t pay her back, Arshad sued to get the money back, but Liuzzo’s sudden death at age 41 means the money is gone forever.
Police found the socialite’s body in a downtown Miami hotel on February 7 after she battled a years-long addiction to drugs said to include cocaine, ketamine and Oxycontin.
The New York native was best known for dating Queen Elizabeth II’s granddaughter Beatrice between 2005 and 2006. She was 17 at the time and he was 24.
Three years before their relationship, he was charged with the 2002 manslaughter of Jonathan R. Duchatellier, a fellow College of the Holy Cross student.
Arshad Sadikeen (left) sued his friend Paolo Liuzzo last year after he failed to pay him back $60,000 he had lent him, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Liuzzo, 41, who was found dead in a Miami hotel in February, had begged his close friend to lend him his life savings so he could take his latest conquest on a luxury Caribbean cruise next year. past (pictured) and pay off a series of debts. , according to the friend
Liuzzo, originally from New York, was best known for dating Queen Elizabeth II’s granddaughter Beatrice between 2005 and 2006. She was 17 at the time and he was 24.
It was alleged that he killed the 19-year-old with his fists, but the charges were downgraded to assault and battery and Liuzzo served just 100 hours of community service.
In 2009 he faced new charges in Australia for crashing a $90,000 Audi into a traffic light, possessing cocaine and failing to pay for food and accommodation at a casino.
In recent years, Liuzzo had billed himself as an “art consultant” and lived in a $3,700-a-month condo in downtown Miami, where Arshad lived one floor above, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Arshad, 30, was impressed by his new neighbor’s designer clothes, flashy lifestyle and elite social circle, which included wealthy art dealers and a Michelin-starred chef.
Liuzzo treated his younger friend to fancy dinners at COTE restaurant in the Design District and to all-night parties at Miami superclubs Space and E11even, but Arshad soon noticed that his extravagance had a darker side.
‘I went to the casino a lot. I realized from his behavior that he was on drugs, something I had never done before,” Arshad told DailyMail.com.
‘But we had a great time, we were close friends. He truly believed that he had connections to the royal family and that he came from a lot of money.
When Liuzzo came to him in April last year for an emergency loan, Arshad was happy to help.
He wanted the money to take a new girlfriend on a cruise and pay off a series of debts.
Video obtained by DailyMail.com shows Liuzzo on the Caribbean cruise he paid for with his friend’s money
Arshad (above) told DailyMail.com that he was happy to help his friend when he came to him for an emergency loan to take a new girlfriend on a cruise and pay off a series of debts last April, but revealed that Things broke down when he arrived. time to return it
According to legal documents obtained by DailyMail.com, Liuzzo was due to repay the loan on June 15, 2023 with interest.
‘The story Paolo told me was that he had just sold $970,000 worth of Apple stock, so it was good for the money. He promised to pay me back in a week with an additional 20 percent,” said Arshad, an ICU nurse.
‘As soon as he came back, he more or less disappeared. One time I confronted him in the hallway and he tried to goad me into punching him, which I think was so he could call the police.
‘A few months later I found out that he had just bought a new Tesla and it crashed almost immediately.
“The last time we spoke he said he had been in rehab, but it seemed to me he was still on drugs.”
Arshad’s only hope of seeing his money came in the form of a promissory note that he had Liuzzo sign confirming the $59,420 loan.
He hired a lawyer, filed a lawsuit last August, and on March 2, a Miami judge issued a default judgment in his favor, not knowing that the defendant had been dead for more than three weeks.
‘Now I’m in limbo. “My lawyer says that if Paolo has no money left there is no chance of getting anything from his family,” said Arshad, who now lives in Chicago.
‘Losing that amount of money ruins you. They were the savings of my life. It was meant for my family and my future. It has depressed me a lot. I fell in love with it. I have been cheated. I just have to accept it.’
Arshad’s only hope of seeing his money came in the form of a promissory note that he had Liuzzo sign confirming the $59,420 loan.
Liuzzo, from Woodbury, New York, was considered a handsome young socialite at the time of his romance with Beatrice.
They kept the relationship secret for almost a year, but broke up in May 2006 when reports of the manslaughter charge surfaced, causing a sensation.
Her parents, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, were not opposed to the union, however, the latter said: “We all have our own journeys and have to learn our way, but Beatrice is a sensible girl, who He will soon be 18 years old. her, with many friends, including Paolo.
It turned out that Liuzzo had broken the conditions of his parole to spend a family vacation in the exclusive Swiss ski resort of Verbier in 2006.
American courts extended her three-year probation as punishment, forcing Beatrice to end their budding romance.
A year later, he embarrassed the Royal Family by claiming that he smoked marijuana in the presence of Beatrice, her sister Eugenie and her mother, while they were all on vacation together in Jamaica in 2005.
The self-proclaimed playboy also confessed to cheating on Beatrice during their relationship and said he wanted to introduce her to the Queen.
Liuzzo (pictured right in court) had reportedly struggled with drugs and had previously been arrested in Australia for a series of offenses including possession of cocaine.
Miami police said Luiszo was found dead at the CitizenM Miami Worldcenter hotel in February. His death is being investigated as a suspected overdose.
Beatrice (pictured with her parents Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson) was reportedly heartbroken when their romance ended and she returned to Goldsmiths, which is part of the University of London.
‘I am not a bad person. But it’s like putting heroin in front of Pete Doherty. Women are my weakness,” he boasted, comparing himself to the Libertines musician.
Liuzzo’s death certificate revealed that he had worked as a consultant in the art industry and had never married, according to The Sun.
An official cause of death has not yet been released. His body was transported to Long Island and a funeral was held on February 16.
Summing up his sad passing, a former acquaintance told DailyMail.com: ‘Paolo really pushed the image that he was half gangster, half playboy and somehow 100 per cent of both.
‘He had a lot of energy and a lot of volume. Larger than life and quite charming, but quick to turn and with a nasty temper.
“He was quick to pick a fight, make a scene and then go back to being ‘charming’ as if nothing had happened. With him it was always about the show.
He spent days drinking bottles of Patrón tequila and loads of cocaine. The bigger and louder the better, but there was always something desperate about it, that’s the truth.