One of Stephen Cloobeck’s alleged victims has broken cover to open up about the allegedly threatening phone calls he received that sparked the billionaire’s arrest.
Mike Farag, 70, who was allegedly pilfered by Cloobeck’s beau Adva Lavie when he invited her over to give her modeling advice, told The California Post about the conversation from January.
He claimed he picked up the phone from an unknown number to an “aggressive” man who allegedly threatened legal action against him if he testified in the Penthouse Pet’s court case.
Cloobeck was arrested after handing himself into a West Hollywood police station on Tuesday, before being released on $300,000 bail.
He has been accused of witness tampering with multiple men who accused Lavie of stealing from them after meeting on dating apps.
Farag said the man who called him was a “bulldog kind of guy” and said he only listened to him without engaging. “[You] let guys like this bark until [they] settle down,” he told The Post.
Farag, an accounting professor at Cal Poly, said the man refused on the phone call to reveal who he was but that he pieced together the facts to realize it was Cloobeck.
He continued: “I was getting these unknown phone calls from a gentleman who is going after me. I don’t know who he is…[he] was aggressive. I told him I would let [law enforcement know] that he called me.”
After the call, he told cops of the incident. On Tuesday, Cloobeck was arrested on four criminal counts, including one felony charge of preventing or dissuading a witness or victim from attending or testifying at a trial or proceeding that named Farag as the victim.
In the criminal complaint, it says Cloobeck “knowingly and maliciously” tried to “prevent and dissuade” Farag from “attending and giving testimony at a trial, proceeding, and inquiry authorized by law.”
Farag said: “I think he was trying to protect the lady.” He said he was stunned Cloobeck would want to marry Lavie. She’s set to face a criminal trial in May, alleging she used dating apps to defraud her victims.
“I am stunned…I am not judging him about who he would like to be with but..” he said. He refused to go into detail about his relationship with Lavie, signaling he wanted to move on.
“Life goes on,” he said. Farag said he would testify against Cloobeck if called to do so. Cloobeck has denied the charges against him.
The LA County Sheriff’s Office said on Wednesday: “On May 12, 2026, at approximately 10:59 a.m., Stephen Cloobeck surrendered at West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station on an outstanding felony warrant for alleged violation of dissuading or intimidating a witness or victim of a crime (136.1 PC).
“This investigation is being conducted by the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station and the Los Angeles Police Department in connection with the Adva Lavie investigation. Mr. Cloobeck was released the same day after posting a $300,000 bail.”
If convicted on all counts, Cloobeck faces up to 11 years and six months in prison and up to $30,000 in fines.
The California Post reached out to LASD and attorneys for Cloobeck and Lavie for comment.
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