WASHINGTON — Before Tareq and Michaele Salahi catapulted to international notoriety as possible White House gate-crashers last week, the Virginia socialites had their pictures taken with President Barack Obama during his inauguration, Prince Charles at a polo match and Oprah Winfrey at another event.
They had Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy speak at their elaborate wedding, which more than 1,800 guests attended.
Friends describe the 40-something pair as “fun-loving” and unabashed about pursuing the spotlight and playing the debonair couple who know and are known by all the right people.
But by Friday, Secret Service agents were seen trying to track down the pair to learn how they managed to get into Obama’s first state dinner, and interviews and court records also show the couple have a far less glamorous side.
These documents and statements include dozens of civil lawsuits alleging nonpayment for services; a long-running (and very public) feud with Tareq Salahi’s parents about ownership and control of their now-idle 108-acre winery; and claims the couple made about accomplishments that can’t be verified.
Casey Margenau, a McLean, Va.-based real estate agent and longtime friend of Tareq Salahi, said he had talked with the couple Thursday. He said the investigation was “hard on them” because the couple believed they “really were invited guests.”
“There’s a video out there of Tareq opening a champagne bottle with a saber,” Margenau said. “That’s him. That’s his personality. . . . They’ve always loved living large, always loved living in the spotlight.”
The circumstances of the White House state dinner on Tuesday remain unclear.
On Wednesday, hours before the White House denied that the Salahis were legitimate guests, The Post asked the couple via Facebook how they happened to attend the dinner. Tareq, captain of the America’s Cup Polo team, responded: “India is the challenger in the America’s Polo Cup World Championships June 1 1/12 2010, and they are very excited in this first ever cultural connection being hosted on the DC National Mall since Polo is one of the primary sports in India.”
When pressed about why they did not appear on the official list, he added, “It was last-minute attending.”
Wine-country roots
Tareq Salahi’s stake to local fame and wealth stems from the family winery, Oasis, in Fauquier County. It is one of Virginia’s oldest, founded in 1977 by Dirgham and Corinne Salahi. It was known for its sparkling blended wines, and it hosted large social events and provided an attractive tourist destination.
But the winery had fallen into debt in recent years. It became the subject of ugly local complaints about the disruption that its events caused on narrow back roads.
The family put it up for sale in 2007, and a year ago, it was still on the market for $4.7 million. In February 2009, according to court records, the winery filed for bankruptcy.
In a civil suit in Fauquier County, Va., Circuit Court last year, Dirgham and Corinne Salahi alleged that Tareq had interfered with the winery’s sale. The dispute grew so unpleasant that Tareq and Michaele, who had lived there, left.
Rachel Harshman, a former friend of Michaele, says the couple owe her tens of thousands of dollars. And she said she noted something odd when she had first met Michaele in the 1990s.
At the time, she said, Michaele was working jobs in retail and living with her parents in a simple condominium in Oakton, Va.
The family was not wealthy, Harshman says.
“Supermodel” stories
One night out with friends, Harshman said, she was surprised when Michaele mentioned that she was a model.
“I said, ‘You never mentioned this to me before.’ “
Later, Harshman said, “it grew into ‘supermodel.’ I ignored it half the time.”
Last year, Michaele, now 44, told a Post reporter that she had been a Washington Redskins cheerleader. But the cheerleaders’ director of marketing, Melanie Coburn, wrote in an e-mail: “We have no record of her being a member of the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders.”
One former cheerleader, Konnie McKee, said Michaele came to alumni events, but no one remembered her being on the squad.
Tareq Salahi, 40, a polo player and wine expert, has also run up a sizable number of detractors. He launched America’s Polo Cup in 2007.
He and the event were sued for $300,000 by Market Salamander, a high-profile catering operation in Middleburg, Va., in 2008, alleging nonpayment of services for a Polo Cup event that was widely panned.
