Gary Kremen filed a lawsuit in federal court against the former stepdaughter of international fugitive Stephen Michael Cohen, the man convicted of stealing Sex.com from him in 2001.
Jhuliana Aramis Cohen, the daughter of Cohen’s ex-wife Rosa, is named in the suit, filed June 28. Kremen alleges that Cohen is using Jhuliana to fraudulently transfer and conceal his assets in violation of the 2001 judgment, in which Cohen was ordered to pay Kremen $65 million in damages.
In the suit, Kremen alleges that Jhuliana has allowed Cohen to transfer funds and business interests into her name, among other things.
Kremen’s filing follows the June 22 arrest of Jhuliana, a resident of Tijuana, Mexico, who was reportedly transporting 202 pounds of marijuana in her car while trying to cross the border at San Diego’s San Ysidro crossing.
Kremen and his attorney, Timothy Dillon, are understandably excited about the development, saying they have recent, documented proof that Cohen has been moving money around by using Jhuliana. However, neither is overly optimistic they will be seeing any of that money.
“The likelihood that we’ll get an order finding her in conspiracy with Stephen Cohen – that he’s been using her as a conduit to avoid Gary’s judgment – I think is very high,” Dillon says. “The likelihood of us collecting $65 million plus $26 million in interest that’s accrued over the last four years, that I have my doubts. I don’t know that they have anywhere near that kind of money. We think they’re fairly broke.”
Meanwhile, the story has another twist. Jhuliana Cohen attempted to cross the border via the Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI) lane—a program open to both U.S. and Mexican citizens that allows approximately 80,000 prescreened motorists to pay $129 for a fast-pass card and vehicle transponder that allows them to cross in special lanes.
How did the former stepdaughter of an international fugitive get a pass without raising a flag? U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Southern California field press officer Vincent Bond said he didn’t know.
“We do a background check on the applicants. Our protocol is sound. We don’t approve everyone who applies for a SENTRI pass. Beyond that, I don’t have specifics on this person, so I’m not going to speculate on it,” he says. “The process is based on the information in the databases we have. I can’t say that in every case somebody who has a parent who has run afoul of the law, that the child would necessarily be a bad person to allow to participate in this program.”
If you were to believe Stephen, who said his ex-wife’s family is heavily involved in drug trafficking, she probably would be a bad person to participate in the program.
“My ex-wife was a good wife, but her family is something totally different,” he says.
As for the lawsuit, Cohen maintains that it is baseless and that he hasn’t been in contact with Jhuliana in two years.
“I guess I’ll end up filing a lawsuit against [Gary] because there’s absolutely no merit to it. I divorced my ex-wife some time back and I have very little contact with that side of the family. I understand that [Jhuliana] was arrested for drugs. But I have no knowledge of any of this kind of stuff,” he says.
Although a condition of her bail, which was posted earlier last week, is that she not leave the country, Dillon and Kremen expect that she’s already gone.
“I doubt she’s in the country right now. The court order says she’s not supposed to leave the U.S., but we’re pretty confident she’s gone,” Dillon says. “I don’t expect her to show up for any court hearings.”
The long-standing battle between Kremen and Cohen, which includes a series of court filings, private investigators, pranks and tricks, seems to keep Kremen going. While he laughs at the prospect of collecting any money from Cohen, he is at least highly amused by the chase.
“I’m enjoying myself,” he says.
