Liouba Stoupakova

After her husband Alec Wildenstein died of prostate cancer at age 67 in 2008, Liouba, a former model from Russia, found herself in trouble. Alec owed €12 million in back taxes, and his Daniel Wildenstein's estate was still tied up in litigation with his widow Sylvia. Guy Wildenstein offered to lend Liouba the money to help pay his brother’s debt — all she had to do in return was give him access to a trust Alec had set up for her, supposedly so Guy could reimburse himself later. But after the deal was done, Guy didn’t pay Liouba the millions he promised. He sent only small, sporadic sums — not enough to pay her tax bill or to live on. Liouba found herself in a situation much like her mother-in-law Sylvia: cut out from the family, with no money and no recourse.