Homeless dogs were among the victims of Life Partners Holdings Inc.’s former chief executive, who, after being accused of cheating investors out of $1.3 billion, must now fight claims he used an animal shelter to funnel money to his mistress, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Happy Endings Dog Rescue, allegedly started to help large canines in need of homes, instead left many uncared for as it helped Life Partners’ then-CEO Brian Pardo evade taxes, according to the suit, filed in Texas court as part of the company’s bankruptcy. The operation took about $16 million out of the hands of investors, who are estimated by a bankruptcy trustee to have suffered steep losses as part of Texas’s biggest fraud. Pardo is fighting the trustee’s claims. Instead of going into the charity, millions of dollars a year went for the personal use of Pardo’s mistress, who founded the rescue in 2005, the lawsuit alleges.
