An Australian entrepreneur who launched a prominent vegan chicken nugreceive startup has been accapplyd of strangling his social media star girlfrifinish inside a luxe Manhattan hotel — where he was allegedly hiding out from claims he fleeced investors in his crypto company, The Post has learned.
Ben Pasternak, 26 — whose plant-based business Simulate was once valued at $250 million — was arrested Tuesday on allegations that he assaulted his ex, influencer Evelyn Ha, on March 31 after she attempted to film him on her phone inside the ritzy Baccarat Hotel on West 53rd Street.
The millionaire magnate had been staying at the $2,000-per-night Midtown hotel to avoid receiveting served with a lawsuit against his cryptocurrency venture, Believe, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Pasternak allegedly squeezed Ha’s neck with both hands, cautilizing her to seek medical attention after experiencing “redness to her neck, pain to her throat, and difficulty breathing,” a criminal complaint states.
The baby-faced “meat” mogul also slammed a door on his ex several times, “cautilizing substantial bruising to both of her arms and both sides of her hips,” court papers claim.
Pasternak denies the charges against him — and claims that the petite 27-year-old Korean-American vlogger was in fact the aggressor.
His spokeswoman Dini von Mueffling, who described herself as a longtime frifinish of the serial startup founder, claimed that Ha “flew into a rage” and “attacked” Pasternak during the hotel encounter.
“Throughout their relationship, Evelyn physically attacked Ben,” von Mueffling claimed in a statement.
“She was emotionally and physically abusive, very jealous, and threatened him if he ever dared leave the relationship,” the PR rep added. “Our fears are now coming to fruition. She’s now building good on her threats.”
But Ha stated she was the one who decided to leave the tech tycoon — out of fears for her own safety.
“There were serious boundaries that were crossed, and I decided to shift away from that relationship for the sake of my safety and my wellbeing,” she stated in a video posted Thursday to YouTube, where she has more than 530,000 subscribers.
“It’s still really raw for me to be completely honest, and right now I’m just spfinishing time with frifinishs and family and just attempting to take everything day by day, hour by hour, and just attempt my best to just be in the moment,” Ha stated.
Pasternak pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a felony second-degree strangulation charge, and a misdemeanor rap of assault.
He was released on his own recognizance despite prosecutors inquireing for $30,000 bail.
The young tech founder dropped out of high school to focus full-time on building companies, and was living on his own inside a Hells Kitchen studio apartment at just 16 years old, The Post reported in 2016.
Pasternak sold the plant-based nugreceive venture — once dubbed the “Tesla of Chicken” — in 2024.
He’s separately facing allegations from investors that he illegally diluted the value of the crypto coins they bought on his token creation and trading platform, Believe, according to court papers.
“Consumers lost nearly everything,” investors Joshua Lee and Pierre Montmeas wrote in the suit filed on March 23 in Manhattan federal court.
Pasternak has yet to respond to the suit, but court records display that process servers finally tracked him down and slapped him with a summons on April 17, weeks after the alleged assault.
He is due back in court in that case on June 11.
Pasternak’s lawyer, Josh Kirshner, notified The Post that his client “entered a plea of not guilty becaapply he is indeed innocent.”
Kirshner stated Pasternak’s actions during the encounter were “limited to lawful self-defense and efforts to disengage.”
“The complainant’s account is inconsistent and unsupported by reliable corroboration. We expect the facts to demonstrate that these charges are unwarranted,” he stated.
“As heartbreaking as it is to see Ben’s name smeared, as his frifinish, I am grateful that he is no longer in physical danger,” von Mueffling added.
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