Chris Soteriou, the victim of a failed murder plot against him by his wife, is seeking $3million from his estranged wife.
The 46-year-old is seeking compensation for the bizarre murder plot against him that saw him battle for his life after he was stabbed in the throat outside his birthday party in 2010 by his wife’s lover. Soteriou is claiming that since the attack, he is unable to work and is now broke because of it. He says that has been forced to borrow money from his family since his wife, 45-year-old Vicky Soteriou, plotted the murder with her boyfriend Ari Dimitrakis.
“I have seriously suffered a diminution in my sense of self-worth, and everything I wish and wanted for my family must now be recast,” he said.
During the attempted murder trial against Vicky Soteriou, the court heard she had taken $20,000 of her husband’s money to purchase burial plots for her and her lover. While he was in hospital recovering from the attack, his wife’s family took $100,000 worth of items from his home including gold nuggets, watches, jewellery and vintage bottles of wine.
He says his wife also withdrew $200,000 from the bank.
“The police brought the transaction to my attention while I was in hospital,” he said. “I was aware she had significant savings but not to that magnitude.”
Mr Soteriou said he had been unable to deal with any of the family’s assets because they were in his wife’s name and frozen under court order.
He asks for $1.3 million for pain and suffering, $1.5 million for loss of earnings, $190,000 for legal and medical expenses and $200,000 for his three children’s pain and suffering.
The Soterious’ teenage daughter is estranged from her father.
Vicky Soteriou was sentenced in the Supreme Court to nine years’ jail after being found guilty of attempted murder.
The court heard she hatched the murder plot with boyfriend Ari Dimitrakis because it acted as a “bizarre aphrodisiac”.
She gave Mr Dimitrakis the knife and he lay in wait for Mr Soteriou.