Stephen Cloobeck, a wealthy real estate developer who briefly ran for governor of California last year, was arrested on Tuesday in West Hollywood, Calif., and charged with intimidating victims in a case against his fianc\u00e9e, a former Penthouse model accused of wooing rich men online and stealing from them.<\/p>\n
Mr. Cloobeck, 64, was arrested and charged with attempting to prevent or dissuade a victim from testifying, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department. A warrant had been issued for Mr. Cloobeck\u2019s arrest, and he surrendered at the West Hollywood station on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
The charge could potentially be a felony, and is related to a criminal case against Mr. Cloobeck\u2019s fianc\u00e9e, Adva Lavie, a social media influencer and model who is known online as Mia Ventura. She has been charged with multiple felonies and is accused of using dating apps to meet older, wealthy men and then burglarizing their homes, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
According to the complaint against Mr. Cloobeck that was released on Wednesday, he is being charged with three felony counts for attempting to dissuade \u2014 \u201cby force or threat,\u201d according to the complaint \u2014 three of Ms. Lavie\u2019s victims from testifying against her. He is charged with an additional misdemeanor for allegedly making \u201cannoying telephone calls\u201d to an additional person connected to Ms. Lavie\u2019s case.<\/p>\n
Mr. Cloobeck was booked at 11:19 a.m. on Tuesday and released in the early afternoon after posting a $300,000 bond, according to jail records. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe these charges are false and we look forward to our day in court,\u201d Elias Dabaie, Mr. Cloobeck\u2019s lawyer, wrote in an email.<\/p>\n
Mr. Cloobeck, the founder of the timeshare company Diamond Resorts International, had put up millions of his own money to run for governor of California last year before withdrawing from the race in November. Upon his exit, he endorsed Eric Swalwell, the former congressman who had become a Democratic front-runner before he was accused of sexual abuse and had to abandon his campaign in April.<\/p>\n
In ending his own campaign, Mr. Cloobeck said<\/a> in November, \u201cIf Eric weren\u2019t in this race, I\u2019d still be in it. But I am leaving this race because the most qualified person in the state is now running for governor.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Cloobeck described an unusually close relationship with Mr. Swalwell in an interview<\/a> this year with Politico. He likened Mr. Swalwell to a \u201clittle brother,\u201d and said the former congressman had stayed at his Malibu home several times in the prior eight years.<\/p>\n