A businessman claims a Las Vegas stripper took advantage of him during a messy divorce and scammed him out of millions by posing as his girlfriend.
Fred Michael Brunner, 61, claimed Melanie Sterling, 47, saw him at a strip club when he was sad and lonely and spent a decade extorting $3.5 million from him.
Eventually, Sterling, née Melanie Slutzky, convinced him to buy them a $720,000 home in Las Vegas where they could live together and split the profits if they split up.
But her lawsuit in Washington County Circuit Court in Fayetteville, Arkansas, claimed she held it in a trust so he couldn’t access it.
The businessman claimed Melanie Sterling, 47 (pictured with her brother), spotted him at a strip club when he was sad and lonely and spent a decade extorting $3.5 million from him.
Brunner claimed Sterling was in a secret relationship with another man for the 10 years they were dating, until she found out in January.
Her suit seeks the return of $3.5 million along with her half of the house, and $35 million in punitive damages from Sterling and 20 unnamed co-conspirators.
Brunner’s lawsuit describes how after his marriage to Elizabeth Stensgaard began to fall apart in January 2014, he found himself in Las Vegas that June.
“Given his emotional distress, (he) decided to go to a gentlemen’s club to smoke a cigar and have some cocktails… he sat alone at his table, lit his cigar and began ordering drinks,” the lawsuit said.
Sterling noticed he was sitting alone, “wearing nice clothes, an expensive watch and probably in a vulnerable state given his lack of company” and “focused” on him.
“She did what all such dangerous adults presumably do in their profession” and prioritized customers who were likely to spend more money,” the lawsuit said.
Brunner said Sterling knew “from experience” that he was the best kind of client “to take advantage of.”
Sterling then led him by the hand into a back room for a private dance and listened to him openly discuss his marital problems, the suit claimed.
That made him “vulnerable to her seduction” and marked her as “his prime target for a much more profitable venture.”
“Sterling learned that (Brunner) was much wealthier than her usual clients – wealthy enough to turn her life around,” the lawsuit states.
They exchanged phone numbers and began texting, Sterling “pretending to be a shoulder to cry on,” and eventually became romantic.
Sterling soon became her main supporter as she complained about her “extremely complex, litigious and absolutely exhausting” divorce.
“As time progressed, Sterling tricked (Brunner) into believing they were in an exclusive romantic relationship,” and she began asking him for money, the lawsuit states.
Sterling (pictured with his brother and father) learned of Fred Brunner’s marital problems and devised a plan to bleed him dry.
Brunner frequently visited her in Las Vegas and took her on “extravagant” vacations where she “paid for everything.”
The lawsuit details how Sterling sent him thousands of text messages, chatted with him on long, romantic phone calls and told him she loved him.
She also sent him romantic cards in the mail and left him love notes when they were together, making him think that “she was the love of his life.”
Brunner claimed her act was so convincing that she met the most important people in her life and even became a “grandmother figure” to her grandchildren.
The lawsuit claims he gave Sterling money, often five-figure sums, whenever she asked for it, totaling at least 100 times during the decade they were together.
“Sterling had convinced (Brunner) that after their divorce they would live together and grow old as lovers,” he said.
‘He was so convinced that Sterling was his soulmate that he even sent financial support to Sterling’s friends at Sterling’s specific request.’
The lawsuit details how Brunner gave her “exorbitant” amounts of cash along with gifts and payment for her expenses and cosmetic surgeries.
Sterling then told her that he wanted a house where they could live together in Las Vegas, and they also decided to build one in Arkansas so they could live between the two states.
Brunner claimed he agreed to buy the house on the condition that she would maintain and improve it while he was away, and that they would sell the house and split the proceeds if they ever separated.
She purchased the new 4,980-square-foot, six-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom home on El Malpais Street for $720,000 on Sept. 23, 2019.
The house is now estimated to be worth around $1.28 million.
Brunner purchased this newly constructed 4,980 square foot, six-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom home on El Malpais Street for $720,000 on September 23, 2019.
Brunner said he agreed to put the house in Sterling’s name because he was worried that if he died, his children might try to take it from him in court.
However, just a week after the home was purchased, Sterling secretly transferred it to a trust in his name, which Brunner says was a scheme to prevent him from accessing it financially.
It all came crashing down in January when Brunner found out about her real boyfriend, who he said he had been dating since before he met her at the strip club.
The lawsuit claimed Sterling “stole” money from Brunner to send to her boyfriend and numerous other people involved in the scam.
After finding out, Brunner claimed she had ignored him and he was forced to sue her to get the house and his money back.
Sterling has yet to file a defense.