Ex-symphony CEO’s ‘broke’ claim attacked
McCAIN ANNULMENT Lawyer notes Visa payments of $20K a month
TORONTO• The estranged husband of a McCain heiress says he’s broke, but banking and credit card records presented in court show he’s been depositing more money in his accounts than financial statements say he earns, while spending an average of more than $ 20,000 per month on credit card bills.
Jeff Melanson racked up more than $520,000 in credit card expenses since 2015, the same year he resigned as the CEO of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. More than $ 50,000 of his credit card expenses in 2016 went to travel, court heard, after spending six months heading across Canada, the U.S ., and Mexico.
Melanson was in court Thursday as his lawyers attempted to convince a judge that Eleanor McCain should help pay his legal bills. If Melanson i s not awarded $ 125,000, he’ ll be priced out of a toxic court battle against McCain, who is seeking an annulment after a nine- month marriage, lawyer Harold Niman said.
The couple sat on opposite sides of a small Toronto courtroom and were separated by two protruding walls as Niman explained their financial history.
McCain had a net worth of $365 million in 2014 when she signed a marriage contract granting Melanson $ 5 million in the event of a divorce. Having her either loan or advance the interim costs would level the playing field, Niman said. Melanson is unemployed, his debts double his assets and he’s racked up more than $200,000 in legal bills thus far.
“This is not a case where my client has gone through a great deal of money,” Niman said. “He was broke when he signed the contract and he’s broke now.”
But McCain’s lawyer, Don Jack, said Melanson’s financial records show otherwise. Since Melanson resigned from the TSO in April, 2015, hundreds of thousands of dollars have continued to flow through his bank accounts.
Melanson earned $535,266.70 in 2015, according to his T4 slip, and yet he deposited more than $ 1.75 million into his bank accounts. In 2016, Melanson earned $420,000 solely from his TSO severance package but deposited around $513,000. In August, 2016, he made two separate deposits of more than $ 50,000, Jack said.
Slow and methodical in his arguments — so much so that Justice Carolyn J. Horkins asked him to get to the point more than once — Jack detailed Melanson’s credit card history.
In 2015, Melanson spent a total of $343,000. The next year he spent $178,000. A significant amount — $ 93,000 in 2015 and $53,000 in 2016 — appears to have gone to travel expenses, Jack said.
Between Aug. 25 and Dec. 14, 2016, court files show that Melanson visited at least 32 different locations across North America while sometimes being accompanied by his girlfriend, Caroline Markos. The couple documented their trip with dozens of posts on Instagram and Twitter. Markos’s accounts have since been deleted.
In a sworn financial statement, Melanson’s most upto-date income was $420,000 and his expenses surpassed $497,000. The credit card and banking statements both suggest, Jack said, that Melanson has more money to spend than he says. Other than one $ 30,000 payment that was singled out by Melanson’s lawyers, Jack said it doesn’t appear any of the other Visa payments — which have all been made — came out of his bank accounts.
“I say there must be other significant sources of cash ( Melanson) did not disclose and that his financial statement is false,” Jack said. “This is not an aberration.
“He has had access to very significant cash, which has not been explained.”
Richard Niman, Melanson’s other lawyer, said his client took out two loans in 2016: one of $ 75,000 from a friend to help pay his legal bills and another of $50,000 from his parents. He also cashed out some RRSPs and made over $ 110,000 from selling his Toronto condo for more than $1.175 million.
Niman said the total deposit numbers were inflated by Melanson transferring large amounts from one account to the other.
The entire court battle has been a “sport” for McCain, Harold Niman said.
When McCain filed for an annulment in March, 2016, she accused Melanson of sexually harassing employees, being an excessive drinker, having narcissistic personality disorder and tricking her into marrying him. Niman scoffed as he read through the allegations, asking Horkins how his client is expected to find a job.
The dispute isn’t about the money either, Niman argued, because their prenup states that even if the marriage “is declared a nullity, all of the terms of the agreement will survive,” including the $ 5- million payment to Melanson.
“The marriage is over, so why are we doing this?” Niman said.
The answer, Niman said, is that McCain wants to rack up the legal bills for Melanson while attacking his character.
“This is gratuitous maliciousness and it’s resulted in my client being in the financial position he is today,” Niman said.
Horkins reserved her decision on the interim costs.
HE HAS HAD ACCESS TO VERY SIGNIFICANT CASH.