Ford Models chairman accused of plunging company into debt with ‘reckless’ spending

A former executive at model agency Ford says her boss burned his way through company funds — to the point where the agency was $8 million in debt and could not afford to pay staff or rent, according to court documents.

Josee Neron, a former VP of operations, says chairman Gerald Banks spent money in a “frivolous and reckless manner for years” — using company funds to pay for exorbitant executive salaries, redecorate the office with expensive furniture and attend a client’s European wedding, according to the affidavit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court last month.

Neron also quit when she realized Banks — whose real name is Guerman Aliev — and Ford Models owner Vladimir Potanin were powerful Russian businessmen with ties to Vladimir Putin, according to court papers.

The former employee said she received daily calls from models’ agents asking when they were going to be paid before she walked in June 2019.

“By November 2018, I believe Banks’ spending and account management placed Ford in financial distress as Ford did not have enough cash reserves to pay the models, the IRS, its suppliers, rent and payroll,” wrote Neron in her affidavit.

She claims the agency used money owed to models to cover their rent and needed an emergency cash injection of $1 million in December just to keep the company afloat.

“By the time my employment with Ford ended in July 2019, Ford had over $8 million in debt and insufficient cash to cover the debt.”

The papers were filed in response to Ford’s lawsuit against Neron — claiming she faked her husband’s illness to get out of a non-compete clause and work for a rival modeling agency.

But Neron said she quit when she learned the agency is owned by Russian oligarch Potanin — a billionaire mining friend of Putin worth $19 billion, according to Forbes.

Potanin, one of the wealthiest men in Russia, who made his money in the nickel industry, was named by Congress in 2018 as a business leader eligible for US sanctions.

She said she also quit when she learned Aliev was a Russian millionaire who also had ties to Putin.

A Ford spokesperson declined to comment.

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