Geoffrey Edelsten: Melbourne businessman accused of being abusive to Gabi Grecko during marriage

Former escort and exotic dancer Gabi Grecko has revealed she suffered ‘brutal verbal attacks’ during her marriage to businessman Geoffrey Edelsten.

The aspiring rapper said after being subject to a particularly harsh verbal spray she threw herself off the fourth-floor balcony of their Melbourne apartment.

Ms Grecko first met the former doctor on a dating app in 2014. She boarded a flight from New York a week later and married the businessman in June, 2015. 

When Edelsten died in June of 2021, Ms Grecko said she believed they were still legally married and referred to herself as his ‘widow’. 

But she received nothing of Edelston’s estate, estimated to be worth about $1million, in his final will and has launched legal action with the Supreme Court of Victoria. 

In an affidavit submitted to the court, Ms Grecko said she had miscarried after the suicide attempt and was left with numerous broken bones, the Herald Sun reports. 

Former high-class escort Gabi Grecko has revealed she suffered ‘brutal verbal attacks’ during her marriage to businessman Geoffrey Edelsten (the pair are pictured in 2014)

Ms Grecko (pictured) said after being subject to a particularly harsh verbal spray she threw herself off the fourth-floor balcony of their Melbourne apartment

‘Despite our marriage, sadly, Geoffrey was often unpleasant and verbally abusive to me,’ she claims in the legal document.

‘He was extremely controlling, constantly wanting to know what I was doing. After a particularly brutal verbal attack from Geoffrey in 2015, I jumped from the apartment’s fourth floor balcony.’

Ms Grecko said she suffered broken ribs, a fractured hip, chronic pain and a collapsed lung, resulting in four weeks of treatment at The Alfred Hospital. 

‘I was pregnant at the time of the suicide attempt and as a result of the fall I miscarried,’ she wrote. 

‘Unfortunately, despite my suicide attempt, Geoffrey’s behaviour towards me continued to be abusive, controlling and quite frightening.’

Ms Grecko said after she threatened to return to New York, Edelsten would hide her passport and mobile phone and accuse of her taking items from their apartment. 

Edelston asked Ms Grecko to marry him in the Flemington Birdcage on Melbourne Cup Day in 2014, with a $50,000 engagement ring. 

They tied the knot in an elaborate ceremony in June, 2015 when Ms Grecko was 26 and Edelston was 72, an age difference of 46 years. 

The pair had an on-again-off-again relationship and had an age difference of 46 years

Ms Grecko received nothing of Edelston’s estate, estimated to be worth about $1million, in his will and has launched legal action with the Supreme Court of Victoria

However, the marriage was short-lived, with the couple splitting a few months later. 

In 2017, they had some ‘frank discussions’ about Edelsten’s ‘abusive behaviour’ toward her, Ms Grecko states in the affidavit. 

‘Those discussions were positive and we agreed that we would renew our marriage vows in a Jewish synagogue in New York. Geoffrey asked me to convert to Judaism and I agreed to do so,’ she said. 

While their marriage vows were never renewed, Ms Grecko wrote that they usually reconciled after disagreements before finally becoming estranged in 2020. 

‘For the last year of Geoffrey’s life, we were estranged, although I had hoped that we might reconcile. I had always considered myself married to Geoffrey,’ she said. 

The former escort claimed that up until a few weeks ago she had thought she was still legally married to Edelston when he died. 

The former escort and exotic dancer (pictured) has claimed that up until a few weeks ago she had thought she was still legally married to Edelston when he died

Edelsten’s second wife Brynne Gordon (left) and his son Matthew Beard (right) have also launched legal action in order to contest the will.

She claims she was served divorce papers electronically in September 2019 to two email accounts she hadn’t used in years. 

Ms Grecko has admitted to struggling to make ends meet and is asking the court to provide her with funds from his estate for her ‘proper maintenance and support’. 

‘I am a person for whom my Geoffrey had a moral responsibility to provide for my proper maintenance and support, and that he failed to make adequate provision for me in his last will,’ she states.

Edelsten’s second wife Brynne Gordon and his son Matthew Beard have also launched legal action in order to contest the will. 

Mr Beard, who lives in America, is arguing he deserves bigger portion of his father’s assets, while Ms Gordon claims she is entitled to a slice of what’s left.