“The Real Housewives of New York City” star Sai De Silva revealed that a wealthy man who once gave her thousands of dollars and expensive gifts was involved in a $133 million Ponzi scheme.
During a recent episode of RHONY season 16, De Silva discussed the man she nicknamed “Daddy Warbucks” while speaking with returning cast member Carole Radziwill during a cast trip to Moskito Island.
De Silva said she met the man while working as a bartender at Scores, a New York City strip club, in the early 2000s. She later learned that he was allegedly involved in a major financial scheme.
“You know what, he was in a Ponzi scheme. He was in this 133-million-dollar Ponzi scheme that I didn’t know [about],” De Silva told Radziwill.
The conversation began when Radziwill pushed back against De Silva’s questions about her past association with Ghislaine Maxwell.
De Silva acknowledged that she had no idea what the man was doing at the time.
“You’re right. You never know who people are. You never know what the (expletive) they are doing. Anyway, but luckily, like, I had nothing to do with it. I’m glad I never let him buy me the house.”
Sai De Silva Says ‘Daddy Warbucks’ Gave Her $10,000 and Bought Her a Car
De Silva shared additional details about the relationship during “The Real Housewives of New York City After Show.”
She said he was about 33 when they met and worked in currency trading.
“He would sit at my bar all the time. He would get upset if he didn’t get enough attention from me, so he would always, like, come in and pay me extra if I would just sit and talk to him only. And we ended up developing a relationship,” De Silva explained.
Less than two weeks after meeting him, De Silva quit her bartending job and moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting.
Before she left New York, the man gave her a substantial amount of money.
“He gave me an envelope before I left, and [there] was like $10,000 in it,” she recalled.
De Silva said he also purchased a car for her after she arrived in California and frequently traveled to visit her.
She previously wrote about the experience in an August 2025 Substack post titled “My Sugar Daddy Had Tourette’s,” published through her newsletter, “Sai Unseen.”
In the post, she explained that she nicknamed him “Daddy Warbucks” because “he shelled out cash like it grew on trees.”
She also wrote that he “would go on to become obsessed” with her.
RHONY Star Clarifies What Really Happened in Their Relationship
Although De Silva previously described their relationship as dating, she clarified that they never had a physical relationship.
“I never kissed Daddy Warbucks. I never slept with him. Nothing ever happened between us, which is why he dumped me,” she said on the after-show.
De Silva also revealed that she learned he had Tourette syndrome during his visits to Los Angeles.
Despite their history, she admitted that she occasionally thinks about reconnecting with him.
“I miss him, and I would like him to come back. But I’m sure he’s broke,” she said.
De Silva has not publicly identified the man in the supplied accounts.
Carole Radziwill Responds to Sai De Silva’s $133 Million Revelation
Radziwill brought up De Silva’s past relationship while defending herself against questions about Maxwell, who was convicted of federal crimes connected to Jeffrey Epstein.
During the RHONY episode, Radziwill argued that De Silva’s experience demonstrated how someone could know another person without being aware of their alleged criminal activities.
“Wait a minute, so you’re telling me that you had a very similar experience with Daddy Warbucks, not knowing that he was involved in some crime, as I had with Ghislaine Maxwell?” Radziwill told a producer.
She continued, “I don’t need to be judged by anybody, and certainly not from somebody who had a very similar experience.”
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RHONY Star Sai De Silva Reveals Former ‘Sugar Daddy’ Was Involved in $133 Million Ponzi Scheme