Tareq Salahi

Tareq's wife, Michaele Salahi, greeting President Barack Obama in the Blue Room of the White House. Tareq is the man in the foreground.

Tareq Dirgham Salahi (born May 26, 1968, in Washington, D.C.) is an American vintner and former public official involved in multiple financial or charity controversies. He and his wife, Michaele, gained national attention in November 2009 by allegedly crashing a White House state dinner in honor of India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Family and early life

Tareq Salahi was born on May 26, 1968, in Washington, D.C. He is of Palestinian descent from his father's side. His father, Dirgham Salahi, immigrated to United States from Jerusalem in the 1940s. His mother, Corinne, is from Belgium. Dirgham was educated as a petroleum geologist and worked in the Middle East and United States. He retired and settled in Virginia, where he became manager of an estate farm, which he subsequently bought. Corrine Salahi is the founder and director of the Montessori School of Alexandria, Virginia.

Tareq attended the Randolph-Macon Academy, graduating in 1987, and subsequently graduated from the University of California, Davis, in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in business management and oenology.He met Michaele Holt at a 2000 holiday party thrown by McLean, Virginia, real estate developer N. Casey Margenau and his wife Molly.

Tareq and Michaele married in 2003. Their ceremony was held at Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C., with 28 bridesmaids and 28 groomsmen. According to a video posted on YouTube and her Facebook page, their reception at the Tareq family winery was prepared by 46 chefs, hosted in a 36,000-square-foot tent, and culminated with a 30-minute fireworks display and an eight-foot wedding cake. The guest list included 1,836 guests, including Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Margaret Heckler. The wedding, originally scheduled for October 2002, had been postponed numerous times, prompting Kennedy to quip that he needed to issue "subpoenas" to the bride and groom.

Oasis Winery

In 1977, the Salahi family founded the Oasis Winery on their estate farm in Hume, Virginia. They planted some of the first Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot vines in Virginia, establishing the fifth winery in the commonwealth. The Salahis developed the business into a 15,000-case-a-year operation, and, according to court papers, grossing as much as $1 million in annual revenue in some years. The vineyard's Meritage line won Gold Medals at the 1994 and 1996 world wine championships. In 1998, Oasis launched a Cuvee "Celebration" sparkling wine which also garnered top awards.

In 1994, they formed Oasis Vineyard Inc. and appointed Tareq general manager. In the following years, Tareq started calling "himself 'president' of the Company and 'owner' of the winery, although he never held more than a 5 % minority interest.According to court papers, Tareq also began operating a new business out of the vineyard, Oasis Enterprises, which was developed to raise ancillary income as a venue for polo events and other functions such as weddings. Oasis Enterprises included a limo operation, wine country tours, and an events-and-catering business. Around 1999 Tareq "diverted" a "substantial amount" of the vineyard's wine to Oasis Enterprises and had not paid the vineyard back.

In 2005, health problems caused Dirgham to step down as head, giving Corrine a more active role in the winery. Tareq and Corrine feuded bitterly, in 2006 Tareq was dired as General Manager, and the dispute ended up bankrupting the operation. Disputes with neighbors added another $2 million to the winery's legal bills.

On November 27, 2007, Fauquier County Judge Jeffrey W. Parker, who was overseeing the bankruptcy of the winery, approved the sale of the property and assets of Oasis Vineyard Inc. for $4.15 million to a partnership headed by Margenau that was to be run by Tareq. However, Margenau backed out: "When I looked at the disarray of the property and vines, and looked at the financials, I said, 'Tareq, you can't make this work. You couldn't pay the rent. You'd be defaulting to me, and we wouldn't be friends'." The Salahis say they plan to reopen Oasis to the public in 2010, but ownership apparently remains in dispute.

On November 29, 2009, Diane Weiss, an employee of the vineyard, told the Warren County Report,

"Tareq and Michaele have no affiliation with Oasis anymore...In Feb. 2008 the courts removed them from any affiliation with Oasis Winery...I just don’t want some crackpot coming up here thinking Tareq and Michaele are part of Oasis Winery anymore. They don’t live here or work here or have anything to do with us."

According to the Warren County Report, Oasis Winery is now controlled by Corinne Salahi. Michaele Salahi seemingly confirmed that she and Tareq were no longer affiliated with the winery in a 2008 interview with the Loudoun Times-Mirror, saying, "...what is going on is that Tareq is pulling the permits and walking away from the property."

Public service

In 2002 Tareq was named National Man of the Year by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in recognition of his fundraising achievements.

Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore appointed Tareq in 2000 to a three-year term on the Virginia Wine Board. At the conclusion of that term, Virginia Governor Mark Warner nominated Tareq as chairman of the Virginia Wine Tourism Office. Tareq was one of 15 board members of the Virginia Tourism Corporation, a "board that shapes Virginia's tourism policy", appointed by Gov. Tim Kaine in 2006. Kaine told MSNBC: "Tareq had served on the state's wine board under both Gov. Gilmore and Gov. Warner, and when his term on the wine board finished, he and the tourism board wanted him on that board because he's a great promoter—you won't be surprised to hear me say that." During his time in office the Virginia Wineway, Loudoun Wine Trail, Blue Ridge Wineway and Virginia Wineries Alliance were created, attracting, according to a USDA study, 980,000 wine tourists to the state, of which 336,000 visited Piedmont wineries.

Following the gatecrashing incident Gov. Kaine intimated to the Washington Post that he directed Secretary of the Commonwealth Kate Hanley to ask Tareq for his resignation from the board. Virginia Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment wrote a letter to Gov. Kaine asking for Salahi's removal from the board: "Mr. Salahi's recent outrageous behavior and personal promotion in regards to trespassing in the White House is not the face we need for Virginia tourism…I would appreciate you taking swift action to avoid any further negative situations." Salahi resigned from the Virginia Tourism Board on December 7, 2009. In an e-mail to Governor Kaine, he wrote,

"Due to the extraordinary misinformation resulting in the unfortunate negative and tabloid type media surrounding our attendance at the White House on November 24, 2009 and attendant issues thereto, I believe that my continued service to the Commonwealth of Virginia by serving as one of your Board of Directors for the Virginia Tourism Authority (VTC) could possibly be a distraction to all of the good work of the Tourism Authority Board.

"It is with hope of the continued success of the Virginia Tourism Corporation that I tender my resignation effective immediately. I have enjoyed my years of proud volunteer service to the Commonwealth of Virginia serving under Governor Kaine and the last three consecutive Governors in my various political appointments."

According to the Huffington Post website, Salahi wass a member of the board of the directors of the American Task Force on Palestine, though his biographic page on that organization's website has been erased. This group has been criticized as doing nothing more than "sponsoring polo matches." A reputed screen grab of his biographic page on the organization's website is reproduced on the Talking Points Memo website. The Salahis' America's Polo Cup site contains a media kit showing Tareq to be a current board member.

Polo

Salahi describes himself as an experienced horseman who started show jumping at 5 and competed in numerous international Grand Prix events before taking up polo at 16. He alleges he was a regular competitor on the U.S. National Team and his Oasis squad won two U.S. Polo Association National Arena Titles in 1997 and 1998.

In 1999, Salahi played on the American team at a polo match at Windsor Castle in Great Britain. He was afterwards invited to a private reception honoring HRH Prince Charles, then a player on the British team. At the exact moment that Salahi was to extend his hand to Charles for a simple “grip and grin” photo, an associate suddenly emerged from behind a curtain and thrust a magnum of Oasis Vineyards Special 2000 Millenium Sparkling Wine into the hands of the surprised prince.

During preparations for the 400th Anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in 2007, Salahi founded the America's Polo Cup to bring more attention to the sport.

According to former America's Polo Cup board member Charlie Muldoon, "I joined the board of America's Polo Cup originally because it was to raise money for lymphoma." Muldoon brought the first event to Morven Park, a historic property and equestrian center near Leesburg where he was head of development, since the park needed the exposure. In 2007 Tareq "did everything by the book with us" fulfilling the contract by paying the park $5,000. In 2008, there was no money to give to charity at the end and "Vendors would come to me because they hadn't gotten through to him."

The Salahis are accused of bouncing a $24,000 check for liquor purchased in Maryland for the May 2009 America's Polo Cup event; they returned over $10,000 in merchandise but still owed nearly $13,000, according to a lawsuit filed on December 3, 2009, by theMontgomery County, Maryland, government. Colorado rancher Barry Stout claims the Salahis owe him "$19,500 for their entry into last year's World Snow Polo Championship, held Dec. 20-21, 2008, in Aspen."

The 2010 America's Polo Cup match took place on June 12 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., with teams announced as United States and India. The advertised ticket price for the event was $95 per person. The event had an attendance of about 250 people, with food from Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. Reports of the event stated that the players who represented India were actually of Pakistaniorigin and were from Florida. A spokesman for the Embassy of India stated that neither the Embassy nor the government of India had any association with the event.

The event's website reportedly identified an Indian company, Kingfisher Beer, as a sponsor. However, Kingfishers' chief executive denied that the company had sponsored the event. Yashpal Singh, the president and chief executive of Mendocino Brewing Company, Kingfisher's parent company, reportedly stated, "We are not sponsoring this event and have informed the people managing this event of that…We have sent legal notices to this effect, and he keeps on advertising us as a sponsor. I don't know what world he's living in."

Controversies

Court records show that more than 30 lawsuits in Virginia and Maryland have been filed against Tareq (and often his wife) or Oasis Enterprises since 2004. According to Montgomery County police detective Bill Heverly there over 40 records of police contacts with the Salahis.

Gate-Crashing

Main article: 2009 U.S. state dinner security breaches

Tareq Salahi has been involved in numerous controversies over the years, most famously the U.S. 2009 White House gatecrash incident in which he and Michaele entered a state dinner despite lacking an invitation. Michaele Salahi is a member of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Washington, D.C., and the show filmed their preparations for the dinner and followed the couple to the White House. Tim Burke, who directed MTV Blaggers!, in which a group of friends gatecrash high profile events and parties, said he was contacted by Salahi a week before the White House incident. Salahi asked him for advice on tricking his way into a black-tie event. Following the White House state dinner, the Salahis allegedly ordered drinks at the Hay-Adams Hotel bar for which they did not pay.

The New York Times characterized the gatecrash as a gross breach of protocol in the nation's capital, thus:

"...when Ms. Salahi strutted onto the South Lawn in that bright red lehenga, she and her husband breached far more than a secure perimeter.

"They also trampled countless protocols that are the social, business and networking bedrock of official Washington. Essentially, the couple used the mixed martial arts approach to upward mobility in a town that still cherishes the Marquess of Queensberry rules."

Tareq Salahi was requested by the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee to appear at a hearing on December 3, 2009, but he refused to attend. On December 9, 2009, the Committee on Homeland Security voted 26 to 3 to subpoena Tareq Salahi, and 27 to 2 to subpoena Michaele, for a hearing on the alleged gatecrash scheduled for January 20, 2010. The Salahis' attorney advised that the Salahis would invoke the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, however.

The Salahis also allegedly crashed the September 26, 2009, dinner for the Congressional Black Caucus, and were asked to leave by security. On the December 2, 2009, Today Show, they claimed they were given tickets to that event by the Gardner Law Group, but caucus spokeswoman Muriel Cooper refuted that claim.

The Wedding

Tales of the Salahi's fecklessness go back to their wedding. Michaele's designer wedding dress cost $6,000, although Tareq filed federal fraud charges against the bridal salon when it attempted to process his credit card for the payment; the salon eventually recovered the money, but only after spending $9,000 on legal fees.

Similarly, Michaele "ran up a tab for thousands of dollars having her hair and makeup done" for her wedding but never paid the bill; she returned to the same upscale beauty salon for a seven-hour session to prepare for the 2009 White House dinner, but left without tipping the staff.

Charity

The Salahis reportedly participated in organizing a charitable polo event, the Courage Cup, in 2005 with future New York state assemblyman Gregory R. Ball. Allegations later arose of non-payment to vendors, as well as misuse of proceeds from the event. The Washington Post reported, "investigation later found that as much as $10,000 in ticket sales to the Poolesville, Md., match -- though widely advertised as benefiting polo training for underprivileged kids -- ended up in a political action campaign started by Ball, and eventually into his campaign treasury."

A dispute over control of the Courage Cup reportedly led the Salahis to create the America's Polo Cup in 2007. However, allegations of misuse of proceeds from the new charitable event arose, as well. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services opened an investigation of the Salahis' annual charitable polo event on December 3, 2009.

Tareq is listed as the director of the "Journey for the Cure Foundation." The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Office of Consumer Affairs has issued a press release that cautions consumers that "Journey for the Cure Foundation, 14141 Hume Road, Hume, Virginia, has solicited contributions from Virginia citizens for allegedly charitable purposes. However, as of May 13, 2009, this organization has not registered with or been granted the appropriate exempt status by the Commissioner as required by law".

The Journey for the Cure Foundation reported taking in $19,098.91 in donations in 2008, but disbursing just $690 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and $20 to the U.S. Navy Memorial Fund. According to records filed with the Commonwealth of Virginia, the foundation spent $7,200 for professional fees, $5,300 for travel, $819 on office supplies, $1,200 on bank fees, and $5,823 on fundraising and meals. Tareq Salahi told the Washington Post in 2008 that he had raised $250,000 for his charity, Journey for the Cure.

Miscellaneous Legal

A check of the Virginia Courts Case Information on-line database showed, as of December 12, 2009, 12 civil cases in Fauquier County and 1 in Loudoun County, Virginia, in which Tareq Salahi was listed as either the plaintiff or defendent. In total, members of the extended Salahi family and their family limited partnership were named in 23 lawsuits in Fauquier County as of that date. According to the Washington Post, "Most of the cases are civil suits seeking payment for everything from auto repairs to a hospital visit, though there are complaints from an employee alleging that Tareq Salahi used abusive, obscene language, and from a tow-truck driver alleging that Tareq stole his truck keys and threatened to pull a gun when he came to tow away Tareq's Audi on a bank repossession order." At least three couples who held their weddings at the Oasis Winery have sued Tareq and Oasis Enterprises, saying large, unauthorized charges showed up on their wedding bills. The Salahis have had numerous fights with their neighbors, stemming from the expansion of the winery and disputes over live music. By 2005, these disputes caused the Fauquier County, Virginia, Zoning Office to limit the winery's events to 12 wine tastings per year. That action prompted Michaele Salahi to register as a lobbyist in Richmond where her efforts succeeded in passing House Bill 2643, removing the power of county zoning authorities to regulate "customary or usual" vineyard activities, such as wine dinners or weddings.

In addition to the unpaid salon bills from their wedding in 2003, Michaele was sued in 2007 by a different hairstylist for the $4000 fee "to update her long blond hair extensions" in a single "urgent" five-hour appointment; to accommodate her request, he had "human hair overnighted to his Georgetown salon, and at her insistence, worked from 7 p.m. until midnight on her now-famous locks". The judge decided in the stylist's favor, but the money remains unpaid.

On January 10, 2008, Tareq Salahi was arrested by Fauquier County sheriff's deputies on charges that in July 2007 he verbally abused Diane Weiss, an employee of the Oasis Winery. The charges were later dropped.

Salahi was also charged with petty larceny by Warren County in the wake of an incident involving the attempted repossession of his Audi A8 automobile in 2008 for non-payment. In this incident, Salahi accused the driver of the tow truck, Edward R. Beal, then of L & K Recovery in Centerville, Virginia, of assaulting his wife; Beal accused Salahi of sending Michaele into their house for a gun and of seizing the keys to the tow truck. According to the Warren County Report, Beal stated in his complaint to the court,

“I felt trapped. I couldn’t leave. I had to run and get away from him. He literally screamed at his wife. He yelled ‘Get the gun, get the gun.’ She didn’t go at first but then he screamed ‘Get the gun. Get the gun now! I said now!’”

Warren County court records indicate, however, that no gun was produced during the incident. Charges against Salahi will reportedly be dropped if he remains on good behavior until the next hearing on this case, scheduled for April 28, 2010.

Travis Frantz, president of the 28-property Mosby's Overlook Estates homeowners association in Front Royal, put a lien on the Salahi home because they hadn't paid dues since the first year they moved in. The Salahis and HOA reached a settlement in mediation, but the HOA has yet to be paid. Frantz said sheriff's deputies have stopped at his house several times trying to serve papers on Tareq Salahi and wanting to know where they might find him.

In a 2008 filing, Sheila Johnson, the co-founder of Black Entertainment Television and proprietor of Salamander Resort & Spa in Middleburg, Virginia, claimed in Loudoun County General District Court that Salahi owes more than $300,000 to her catering business for a 2008 America's Polo Cup event; a Hume-based caterer, Jerome Farmer, told Washington Life that Salahi still owes him $30,000 for catering services for the 2009 America's Polo Cup; and Robb Levin told Time magazine that he won a $15,000 judgment against the Salahis, but has yet to collect a penny.

On December 4, 2009, Warren County Judge W. Dale Houff ordered Tareq Salahi to surrender the Patek Philippe Geneve watch he was wearing to the owner of A1A Home Improvement and Lawn Care Service, to whom he owed about $2,000, with the wristwatch to be held or sold to cover the debt. The watch was allegedly worth $325,000. Unfortunately for A1A the watch did not work, in addition to which Ray Cosey, owner of R E Jewelers Watch & Clock in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and Jean Plauger, owner of Jean’s Jewelers in Front Royal, Virginia, declared the watch a fake worth no more than $100. An attorney for A1A subsequently reported that a bank check for $2,063.55 had been delivered December 7, 2009, that would cover the Salahis' debt. Judge Houff ordered the watch released, and David W. Silek, the Salahis' former attorney, confirmed it had been retrieved.

In popular culture

In the opening segment of the December 5, 2009, episode of Saturday Night Live, Tareq was portrayed by Bobby Moynihan as an interloper who got on stage at a Barack Obama speech in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and posed for various pictures behind the President with his wife, Secret Service guards, and Vice-President Joe Biden. At one point they even asked the President to stop his speech and snap a group shot of all of them.

Tareq is frequently seen alongside his wife in episodes of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Washington, D.C..

Salahi's last name has entered the English language as a verb, meaning "to audaciously gatecrash a ‘secure’ event."

External links

• Oasis Winery (website of Tareq and Michaele Salahi)
• Oasis Winery (website of Corrine Salahi)
• America's Polo Cup Washington DC June 2010
• Tareq & Michaele Salahi wedding video
• Official Guest List for White House State Dinner
• Washington Life coverage of incident and Salahis
• Loudoun Times-Mirror (Va.) report on the Salahis
• Virginia Courts Case Information (searchable on-line database)
• Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services press release, "STATE WARNS PUBLIC ABOUT CHARITABLE SOLICITATION BY JOURNEY FOR THE CURE FOUNDATION", May 13, 2009
• Warren County Report, mid-December 2009 edition, with a "Salahi Section"
• Washington Post, "A new field of inquiry: Salahis' polo cup: Couple's problems didn't start with White House dinner", December 2, 2009
• Washington Post, "Reliable Source" chat transcript of November 30, 2009