Scarsdale mentor claims New Rochelle follower broke deals worth $4.3M

BY BILL HELTZEL Bheltzel@westfairinc.com

AScarsdale businessman is demanding nearly $4.3 million from a New Rochelle businessman he mentored, over deals made during the Covid-19 pandemic but allegedly not consummated.

Peter Weintraub accused Marc Jason of failing to pay a $500,000 personal loan, in a complaint filed June 22 in Westchester Supreme Court. On the same day Weintraub’s Bristol Associates Ltd. sued Jason’s London Luxury LLC for nearly $3.8 million for allegedly failing to pay for goods delivered.

Jason’s attorney, Daniel Nottes, Manhattan, said he had no comment on the allegations at this time.

Weintraub operates Bristol Associates, a Scarsdale textile firm that imports sleep products, such as sheets and mattress toppers and pillows, and sells them to wholesalers.

Jason, a native of London, founded London Luxury in 2002 to sell home goods, such as sleep products, to retailers.

Weintraub and Jason were introduced to one another around 2005, according to a court filing, and “they developed a close personal friendship which endured for many years. The relationship, was such that Jason often referred to Weintraub as his ‘mentor.'”

The court cases do not provide details about the personal relationship, but online records indicate a shared interest in supporting Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, a nonprofit organization based in Manhattan.

Weintraub claims that Jason asked him for a short-term loan for a new business venture in May 2020. The plan was to supply personal protective equipment to hospitals and retailers. The business was to be called London Luxury Medical, according to the complaint, but was never formed.

Weintraub says he agreed to make a $500,000 personal loan. He would receive a 1% commission on gross sales and Jason would repay the loan, without interest, by May 2022.

“Jason has failed to repay any portion of the loan,” the complaint states, “despite repeated requests by Weintraub.”

Around the same time, Bristol Associates’ relationship with London Luxury was allegedly faltering.

Bristol had begun supplying the New Rochelle wholesaler with sleep products in 2006. But from late 2020 to mid-2022, the second complaint states, London Luxury placed 26 orders, the goods were delivered and no payments were made.

Both lawsuits charge breach of contract and unjust enrichment.

Weintraub and Bristol Associates are represented by Manhattan attorneys Michael S. Devorkin and Kelsey J. Davis.