Ira Renato, the reclusive billionaire who is one of the Hamptons' largest real estate owners, may soon find himself in the spotlight over allegations of lead poisoning at a mine in Peru — a case he has been fighting for nearly 20 years. I've been trying to do that.
The 90-year-old founder of New York-based family holding company Renco is best known in New York circles for the huge East End waterfront property he bought in the 1990s.
The property at 281 Daniels Lane in Sagaponack, dubbed “The House That Ate the Hamptons” in the title of legendary Page Six founder James Brady's book, has 29 bedrooms and 39 bathrooms. It has grown to include a 110,000 square foot main house with a There is also a garage that can accommodate 100 cars.
In 2010, the Hungarian-born businessman allegedly clashed with Southampton's zoning authorities after trying to add a 40th outdoor toilet. According to Curved Hamptons.
Lennart's estate (recently valued at $425 million) sits on 63 acres facing the Atlantic Ocean and includes three pools, two tennis courts, a 164-seat theater, a basketball court, a bowling alley, and more. It even has a synagogue.
His ultra-luxury playground is set apart from a now-shuttered mine in Peru that sparked a legal saga that spanned the presidential administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and the upcoming presidential administration. continent, and the world. It will be Trump again.
The lawsuit was filed in Missouri state court in 2007 on behalf of 17 Peruvian children against St. Louis-based Doe Run Resources, which is owned by Lenco.
Two nuns from St. Louis stayed here. College of Public Health and Social Justicesent researchers to examine local children who lived near the mine before it closed in 2009.
The case was transferred to federal court in Missouri in 2017 after being consolidated with 40 other lawsuits against the parent company.
Mr. Renato's efforts to dismiss the case include the assistance of Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who filed briefs with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit last year, and the case will be handled in a Peruvian court. argued that it should be done.
Months later, a political action committee created to support Mr. Bailey's 2024 re-election bid received a $50,000 check from the Lenco Group. The Missouri Independent reported. Bailey ultimately won the Missouri AG race last month.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also issued an opinion on Renato's behalf last year, saying the case could set a terrible precedent for U.S. companies doing business overseas.
Nevertheless, a Missouri district court judge in August gave the green light for the trial to proceed, ruling that Lennart “is the controlling owner of all defendant corporations,” according to court records. did.
In 1997, Mr. Doe Lan purchased a smelting and refining facility called the La Oroya Metallurgical Complex from the Peruvian government. The facility mined copper, lead, zinc and other metals, the complaint said.
According to court documents, the complaint alleges that Doe Run failed in its obligations to reduce lead emissions at the mine under the terms of an environmental remediation and management plan that Lenco signed with South American governments.
Sister Kate Reid, one of the nuns behind the charges, told the Post that many young children who lived near the factory were still suffering from illnesses such as lethargy and rashes. Mr. Reed is acting as a next confidante in court for some of the alleged victims, who are still minors.
In 2007, she visited a Peruvian village near the smelter, where she met priest Pedro Barreto, who first warned her of the mine's toxic dangers.
“He said it's a huge violation of humanity for blood to be contaminated with lead. What you think is life-giving is actually deadly,” Reed said in 2012. I recalled a conversation I had with Mr. Barrett, who was appointed cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI.
Through research, the St. Louis School of Public Health found that 99% of La Loloya's children had blood lead levels that could cause “mental injury, learning, and other permanent disabilities,” according to the complaint. It is said that he did.
Jerry Schlichter, an attorney who has been working on the case for the past 17 years, told the Post that “the blood lead levels in these children, who are now young adults, were among the highest on record in the world.” Ta.
If convicted, Lennart and Renko could face hundreds of millions of dollars in fines, Schlichter said.
Schlichter said a similar lawsuit on behalf of another 1,000 Peruvians in its early stages in Missouri could potentially push the number to more than $1 billion.
“The potential damages are very high,” Schlichter said. “It's hard to understand a more punitive situation.”
In response, Renco spokesman Jim McCarthy strongly denied any wrongdoing.
“The plaintiffs' lawyers' case is a complete fraud involving extortion of indigent individuals, falsification of medical records, bribery of public officials, and a complete lack of evidence,” McCarthy argued.
Renato's lawyers have filed a motion with the Federal Court of Appeals to delay the case. It was rejected in September.
On Nov. 27, he filed a formal request for the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the case, a cert petition, according to filings reviewed by The Post.
But unless the Supreme Court agrees to take up the case, the case could go to trial as early as the first half of next year.. No trial date has been set.
Mr. McCarthy also claimed that the Peruvian government was responsible for the health problems.
“Our filings and plaintiffs' own expert testimony show that Doe Run Peru has done more during its 12 years in office than the Peruvian government or any other government has done in its previous 75 years of business. “With improvements that cost more than $300 million, Doe Run Peru has dramatically reduced emissions in every category,” McCarthy said. .
“The Peruvian government will destroy La Oroya, de l'In Peru will cleanse it, and the defendants will be compensated by Peru for these false claims.”
The Peruvian government objects to this compensation claim and has been proceeding with arbitration proceedings with Lenco since 2016 at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands.
Mr. Lennart has run into legal trouble before when he made his fortune by leveraging the acquisition of natural resources businesses.
Dou Lan Resources, North America's largest lead producer, is shutting down its operations after tests show that more than half of children living near its smelters have enough lead in their blood to cause brain damage. , hit by a lawsuit over its smelter in Herculaneum, Missouri. Mother Jones reported in 2012.
The plant is Found responsible for violating Missouri Clean Water Act It closed in 2020 as part of a private settlement agreement, according to court records. The judge in the case found that Doe Lan had unreasonably obstructed discovery and was fined more than $400,000, Schlichter told Mining.com.
In 2015, a New York jury ruled that Mr. Lennart was accused of plundering U.S. Magnesium and forcing it into bankruptcy to finance the construction of a state called Fairfield in the Hamptons, and that the company's creditors had to pay $1. ordered to pay $18 million.
In a Nov. 27 filing with the U.S. Supreme Court, Renato's lawyers also presented evidence that Peruvian law enforcement committed fraud, coercion and other wrongdoing in the plaintiffs' recruitment methods. He claimed to have discovered it.
Schlichter refuted those claims.
In response to a Nov. 27 Supreme Court petition, Mr. “It's just another diversionary attempt in the wake of this.”
“While there is no evidence of wrongdoing by our company or our clients, there is overwhelming evidence that Dou Lan and Ira Rennert are exposing children to some of the highest blood lead levels in the world.”
