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Brad Pitt has been accused of concealing “embezzled assets” in the ongoing legal battle with his ex-wife, Angelina Jolie, over the French winery they purchased together during their marriage. The couple, who bought Chateau Miraval in 2008 with plans to turn it into a business for their children, have been embroiled in a bitter court fight since 2022.
The dispute centres around the ownership of the winery and its associated assets, with each using their own investment companies—Pitt’s Mondo Bongo LLC and Jolie’s Nouvel LLC—to purchase Quimicum, the parent company of Miraval.
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Pitt accused of hiding ‘embezzled’ assets
In 2021, Jolie informed Pitt via email that she wanted to exit the business, prompting him and his team to negotiate a buyout of her shares in Miraval. He offered $54.4 million, but the deal fell through. Instead, Jolie sold Nouvel, the company holding her shares in Miraval, to the Stoli Group, controlled by Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler, for $64 million. Pitt’s lawsuit claims Jolie violated a prior agreement that prohibited selling their shares to a third party without mutual consent.
Jolie, however, denied all allegations of any wrongdoing in the ongoing legal dispute. Nouvel, the company holding her shares, countersued Pitt for $250 million, accusing him of freezing them out of the business and treating Miraval as his “personal fiefdom.” In response, Pitt accused Stoli, the company that bought Jolie’s shares, of attempting a hostile takeover.
In May, a second countersuit was filed by Stoli’s subsidiary, Tenute del Mondo, with similar claims. Tenute alleges that Pitt and his company, Mondo Bongo, “embezzled property” by secretly diverting Miraval’s assets to “vanity projects” in France that lacked a legitimate “business purpose,” as reported by InTouch Weekly.
The Tenute lawsuit read, “[Brad] caused Chateau Miraval’s funds and assets to be spent on his personal expenses and to be diverted to his other business ventures rather than be paid out as dividends and loan repayments that would flow through Quimicum to Mondo Bongo and Nouvel, and ultimately back to [Brad] and [Angelina].” It further read, “That illegal conduct continued, and even intensified, after [Angelina] sold Nouvel to Tenute, the wine-making arm of the international beverage company, Stoli Group.”
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The lawsuit accuses Pitt of…
Pitt previously argued that the case should be heard overseas rather than as part of the California lawsuit. However, Tenute del Mondo is now requesting that the court proceed with the lawsuit against Pitt, urging that it should continue despite his objections and not be dismissed or moved to another jurisdiction.
The company’s lawyer said, “Tenute sufficiently alleges that [Brad], a California resident, directed, in California, Chateau Miraval’s CEO to conceal embezzled assets.” The attorney continued, “Tenute pleads that neither [Brad] nor Chateau Miraval’s CEO had the authority to divert property to side businesses or personal expenses. Tenute also pleads criminal intent because [Brad and his company] deliberately concealed their misappropriation.”
Tenute claimed that Nouvel had loaned Miraval $20 million, with the understanding that the loan would be repaid once the business became profitable. The lawyer said, “Tenute alleges that [Brad] and Mondo Bongo have misappropriated millions of dollars of Chateau Miraval funds that should have been distributed to Tenute to their side business, Miraval Studios, in which they hold a 40% interest but in which Tenute has a mere 5% interest.”
The company alleged that the Fight Club actor’s team hid the expenditures from Jolie and he “concealed or aided in the concealing of the embezzlement in part because he sent a message to [Brad’s business partner] directing him to ‘no longer send AJ reports as she is trying to shop her shares.’” The company argued, “[Brad’s] message to [Brad’s business partner] was at least a preparatory act in concealing or aiding in the concealment of embezzlement.”
Tenute alleges that when representatives for Jolie questioned the CEO of Château Miraval about the approval of spending that seemingly benefitted only Pitt, the CEO reportedly responded, “What am I to do? He’s my boss.” Tenute argues that this response, along with other evidence, supports their claim and provides enough grounds for their counterclaim to proceed in court.
