A
lgerian soccer star Faouzi Ghoulam has secured a court victory against Italian businessman Fabrizio Arengi Bentivoglio. Ghoulam, who played professionally in France and Italy for AS Saint-Étienne and S.S.C. Napoli, claims Arengi defaulted on a $12 million loan from 2021 by failing to repay the debt and transferring collateral backing the loans.

    Ghoulam sought an injunction to prevent Arengi from selling assets, including Manhattan condo units and interests in a Fifth Avenue entity. In January, New York Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen granted the injunction, blocking Arengi's company from selling $25 million in proceeds from a private equity firm's acquisition of advisory firm Morrow Sodali.

    Ghoulam alleges that Arengi induced him to make the loan by pledging valuable collateral, including interests in Morrow Sodali and shares of Patriot National Bancorp. However, Ghoulam claims Arengi breached the loan terms in 2022 by selling his interests in Morrow Sodali after a private equity firm acquired a majority stake.

    Instead of using the proceeds to pay off the loan, Ghoulam alleges that Arengi defaulted on interest payments in September 2024. Now, Ghoulam is seeking to collect on the unpaid loan and default interest. "The Court rightly acknowledged the irreparable harm caused by Arengi and his entity," said Ghoulam's attorneys Terrence and Darren Oved of Oved & Oved.