A FAILING BIZ & MARRIAGE
Hub of missing Conn. ma got millions from her fam to build mansions
The image of Fotis Dulos in prison orange stands in contrast to the well-heeled developer of luxury homes sporting designer clothes. A week after his arrest on charges of hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence in the disappearance of his estranged wife, Jennifer Farber Dulos, the once-successful builder remains in prison, unable to post bail.
For nearly two decades, Dulos moved easily among those who could afford the multimilliondollar homes he built along Avon Mountain and other locales. By all accounts, he saw a good deal of success, winning praise from both customers and industry colleagues. But a Courant review of court and real estate records show, more recently, a clear picture of a business in trouble.
His ventures drew strong financial backing from his father-in-law — nearly $10 million between 2004 and 2016, according to court documents. But in early 2017, those funds were cut off after his father-in-law died, squeezing cash flow. The loss of that financing also came as demand for high-end homes had weakened significantly.
Dulos’ financial problems unfolded around the same time as his marriage to Jennifer Farber Dulos was falling apart. She left their home in Farmington with her five children and filed for divorce in early 2017, claiming she had discovered his affair with international businesswoman Michelle Troconis — now facing the same charges as Fotis Dulos. Shortly after, the estate of Jennifer’s father filed a lawsuit against Dulos, claiming he owed more than $2.5 million that he hadn’t repaid from the development financing.
The divorce was bitter and divisive. The court file, with more than 400 motions, is full of back-and-forth allegations with each side accusing the other of ignoring court orders, threatening each other in front of the children and increasingly wild allegations of threats to kill the children or each other.
“It’s sad, very sad,” William Ferrigno, president of Avon-based home builder Sunlight Construction Inc., said. “It’s sad all the way around. The affluence — the over-the-top affluence — it didn’t end up serving anyone’s interest at the end of the day.”
‘Gorgeously livable’ homes
In heady times, Dulos built for the 1 percent and pursued the same lifestyle. Dulos and Fore Group Inc. were wellknown for the lushly designed mansions in the Farmington Valley, and he aspired to establish a strong presence in Fairfield County. Dulos is listed on the company’s website as president and CEO of Fore Group Inc.
In a 2015 promotional supplement to Hartford Magazine, published by The Hartford Courant, Dulos said he wanted his homes in Hartford County to be comparable to what you’d find in Greenwich or New Canaan.
“Spending $1.5 [million] to $2.5 million in Hartford County will buy a home that would easily command $4 million in Fairfield County,” Dulos said, in a supplement titled “Posh Properties.”
In the piece, Dulos touted 10-foot foundations for expansive lower levels, and homes “with high ceilings so the space below feels gorgeously livable.”
In development circles, Dulos is known for a flashy, brazen style. He aggressively pursued the niche of mansions for the wealthy at a time when many builders were moving toward smaller, energy-efficient homes requiring less maintenance.
Dulos’ business and his marriage were closely intertwined. The funding from his father-inlaw, Hilliard Farber, boosted Dulos’ success, cutting through red tape, allowing for smooth acquisitions and leveraged more traditional bank loans.
Hilliard Farber was a former senior vice president at Chase Manhattan Bank who went on to serve as a fellow at the Brookings Institute and form his own brokerage firm, Hilliard Farber & Co.
“Mr. Farber was extremely generous to his son-in-law over the years,” Richard Weinstein, the West Hartford attorney who represents Farber’s estate, told The Courant earlier this month.
Hilliard Farber would front his son-in-law money to buy properties, then Dulos would build high-end homes on them through Fore Group Inc. He would then sell the houses and repay the debt.
Dulos’ Fore Group built luxury homes on the glitzy ridge
cutting across Avon Mountain, with sweeping views of the valley below. His projects included a cluster of mansions on Jefferson Crossing in Farmington, a high-end renovation project on Mountain Spring Road, with other parcels waiting to be developed.
But then Fore Group stopped making the payments to Farber, according to a lawsuit filed in Superior Court by Farber’s estate. The estate of the ultrawealthy Wall Street financier has slapped liens on at least two of Dulos’ investment properties, numbering at least seven in Connecticut.
Dulos argues in court filings that the financing from his father-in-law was a gift rather than a loan.
Troubled business, divorce
As his business was slipping, Fotis Dulos was becoming increasingly embroiled in an escalating divorce case and battle for the custody of the five children he had with Jennifer Farber Dulos.
The couple was married in New York in August 2004, according to court records. Both had attended Brown University.
In a divorce file bristling with 400 motions, Fotis Dulos and Jennifer Farber Dulos traded allegations, each accusing the other of defying judge’s orders, of threatening to harm or kill each other within earshot of the children. He was plotting to kidnap the children and disappear in Greece, she said. She pressed for court orders that he turn over his Greek passport, have no contact with the children and submit to a psychiatric examination.
For his part, Fotis Dulos claimed Jennifer was going to bring in the Mafia to break his legs, according to court filings. “I can have the Mafia break your dad’s legs with a baseball bat,” Dulos claimed his wife said in front of the children, according to court documents. The judge ultimately rejected the Mafia threats as a legitimate threat to Fotis Dulos’ safety.
In a June 2017 affidavit, Jennifer Dulos said the couple had planned to move to New Canaan “in large part because of my husband’s desire to grow his business in the Fairfield County area. We listed our home for sale and planned to move to my mother’s home in Pound Ridge, N.Y.” She said the couple enrolled the children at New Canaan Country School.
But the plan exploded, Jennifer Farber Dulos said, when she discovered in March 2017 that her husband had been having an affair with Michelle Troconis. Jennifer Dulos told her husband she intended to move with the children to Pound Ridge.
What happened next was the product of an “irrational” mind, Jennifer Farber Dulos said in court papers:
“My husband informed me that he decided to move [Michelle Troconis] and her daughter into the marital home and enroll [Troconis’] daughter in the private school that our children had attended for the last two years. He informed me that our children and I will continue to reside in the marital home every weekend during the summer, so that we all — his paramour and her daughter included — would be together. He also informed me that he will come and go from my mother’s residence whenever he wants during the week. Essentially, he expects to exhibit complete control over me and the children.”
Jennifer Farber Dulos in court papers also said she feared her estranged husband.
“I am afraid of my husband,” she said in a court filing. “He is dangerous and ruthless when he believes that he has been wronged. During the course of our marriage, he told me about sickening revenge fantasies and plans to cause physical harm to others who have wronged him.
In his response, Fotis Dulos denies the allegations and said his wife “is presently taking medication for mental health issues.”
Now, as Fotis Dulos sits in jail awaiting his next court appearance on Tuesday, his properties have become the targets of repeated police searches.
His 14,000-square-foot home at 4 Jefferson Crossing in Farmington, part of an enclave Dulos developed, is the subject of a separate legal action filed by his father-in-law’s estate. That lawsuit claims Dulos hasn’t made a mortgage payment on the home since the end of 2018, court documents show.
Weinstein, the estate lawyer, declined to comment for this story. Dulos’ real estate attorney David Markowitz did not return a telephone call seeking comment.