Celebrity News

Jeff Soffer wants ‘baseless’ wrongful death suit thrown out

Miami billionaire Jeff Soffer is fighting back against a $100 million lawsuit over the death of his best friend, Lance Valdez, in a Bahamas helicopter crash.

Soffer, the property-mogul husband of supermodel Elle Macpherson, is accused by Valdez’s widow, Daria Gogoleva, of illegally being at the controls of the chopper that crashed in November 2012.

Gogoleva also claims that Soffer and his employees conspired to pressure her to sign a release exonerating Soffer from any blame or liability so they could collect a $2 million insurance payout that would be funneled to the Valdez family.

But Soffer’s lawyers Thursday asked a Miami-Dade court to throw out Gogoleva’s “baseless and frivolous” suit, saying, “Jeffrey Soffer categorically denies plaintiff’s allegations of improper conduct . . . there was no conspiracy,” and that Gogoleva “signed the release of her own free will.”

Soffer argues the release therefore “bars her wrongful death claim.”

Gogoleva’s lawyers didn’t comment, but sources said the motion was expected procedural wrangling in early stages of litigation.