You can’t sue me for being a bad architect — because I’m not an architect at all.
That’s the nervy claim a Manhattan man made when he was accused of ripping off a billionaire motel mogul and his yoga-instructor wife for $145,000 in bogus costs tied to the botched renovation of their Bahamian vacation home, a new Manhattan lawsuit charges.
After admitting he wasn’t a licensed architect, Yianni Skordas actually warned the couple that they couldn’t sue him for professional malpractice, saying he “is not a professional,” the suit claims.
On the recommendation of a friend, Cendant Corp. founder Henry Silverman and his wife, Karen, hired Skordas in 2014 to oversee an $8 million addition to their Ocean Club estate on Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas.
“Throughout their relationship, Mr. Skordas deceived the Silvermans into thinking that he was a highly qualified, professional architect,” the suit states.
Instead of the promised expert job, Skordas built a “jail-like fence around the property,” installed a “door to nowhere” and pocketed payments meant for contractors, the suit alleges.
Skordas, an East 66th Street resident, even tried to get the suit tossed by arguing that “the law is well-settled that only professionals can be held liable for ‘malpractice.’ ”