His fortune has gone up in smoke.
The famed Manhattan restaurateur slapped with a $2 million sexual-harassment suit by Jeremy Piven’s stunning model ex-girlfriend is crying poverty, The Post has learned.
Frederick Lesort, 48, claims that he only has a paltry $10,711 in assets versus a whopping $5,432,086 in liabilities, according to legal papers filed May 5 in bankruptcy court.
An attorney for Piven’s former flame, Ashley Chontos, believes that Lesort is putting up a smoke screen.
“He filed for bankruptcy to try to avoid the ramifications of Ms. Chontos’ complaint,” said lawyer Matthew Blit. “We now have to wait for the bankruptcy judge to make a decision as to whether Lesort does not qualify for bankruptcy.”
The sultry Chontos, who was allegedly harassed by a manager at one of the bigwig’s restaurants, also took a shot at Lesort.
“I find it really hard to believe that he filed for bankruptcy. He still throws parties and events,” fumed Chontos, who has appeared in Chanel ads and modeled for Elle magazine.
Lesort’s bankruptcy attorney, David Wander, hit back, saying, “There’s no connection whatsoever between Mr. Lesort’s need for bankruptcy relief and the lawsuit by Ms. Chontos.”
A laundry list of creditors are waiting to be paid by Lesort’s businesses, papers charge.
For over 25 years, Lesort has operated fancy restaurants, including Frederick’s Madison, Buddha Bar and Lemon.
In a 2010 suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Chontos claimed manager Daniel Koch touched her and made lewd comments about her body while she was a waitress at Lesort’s now-defunct Jour et Nuit, on West 58th Street.
She started working as a waitress at the restaurant in 2007.
“I couldn’t stand going to work anymore because this guy was trying to sleep with me,” Chontos said.
“He texted me often and asked me about my boyfriend and said he would treat me better,” she said.
In February 2008, Koch allegedly fired her.
The case is still pending.