My former drug den fixer-upper turned out to be Pope Leo's old home

A year ago this month, a Polish builder bought a fixer-upper in a suburb south of Chicago. The neighbourhood is not particularly ritzy, with its vacant houses and shops that have mostly gone out of business — other than a Chinese takeaway and the Speedy Drive Thru Food Mart, which looks as if it was built to withstand an armed assault and possibly already has done.
But Pawel Radzik, who makes his living doing up houses, felt the little place had potential, and last week his renovation was very nearly complete. He was accompanying his heavily pregnant wife to a doctor's appointment when his phone rang. On the line was his estate agent, who had some big news: Radzik was in possession of the new

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Daily Mail​

an hour ago

• Daily Mail​

EXCLUSIVE Female tycoon is private jet-crazed power lesbian who mocked male employee for being old, say ex-colleagues

A Lamborghini-racing, private jet-loving executive has been accused of plundering her company's coffers in a trio of explosive lawsuits from former associates. Jessica Mah, founder of venture capital firm Mahway Management, stole millions from the company to fund a lavish lifestyle including gifts for her co-founder, Andrea Barrica, with whom she is accused of having a lesbian affair, legal filings claim. She also stands accused of lobbing ageist insults to a subordinate, according to one of the lawsuits. Mah denies all the claims against her, with her representatives telling Daily Mail the attempted legal takedown is retaliation for a sexual assault lawsuit she filed against one of the plaintiffs, her investor Justin Caldbeck. Caldbeck, who is the CEO of D Global Ventures, previously admitted sexual misconduct towards six women in his professional orbit after being exposed in the early stages of the #MeToo movement. Tensions flared between him and Mah over the size of his return on his investment, which he believed was less than he had been promised. Mah began the legal frenzy by suing Caldbeck on May 14, accusing him of threatening to 'destroy' and 'bankrupt' her if she did not pay him the profits he believes he was rightly owed. Caldbeck denies the allegations and countersued hours later, claiming Mah 'seduced investors with misleading and often contradictory representations in quarterly investor reports'. Luxe-loving tycoon Mah was also accused in a separate lawsuit of lavishing gifts and perks on her alleged lover Barrica at the company's expense. Both women have denied any romance. 'Mah is a charlatan living on investors' funds intended for Mahway's portfolio of start-up companies, the majority of which are only "unicorns" in the sense that they are also imaginary,' Caldbeck claims in his lawsuit. In business, a 'unicorn' is a private start-up valued at $1 billion. Mah has bragged about being a 'unicorn breeder.' Caldbeck claims in his suit that Mah, an alum of the Forbes 30 under 30 club, 'misappropriated' money from investors to pay for private chefs, a $1 million private jet, her $16,500-a-month home, luxury cars and vacations to destinations such as Park City, Utah, and Burning Man. 'As of February 2025, Mah had taken millions in fees, even though Mahway's portfolio company investments were underperforming. Those fees were millions of dollars more than Mah was entitled to under the relevant agreements,' Caldbeck's suit states. Mah's Instagram page is chocked full of images of her exotic escapes, ritzy dinners and sports car-racing endeavors. Caldbeck's claims were echoed in suits brought by two of Mah's former employees — ex-President Walter Delph and former chief financial officer William Mulholland — who sued the young executive for alleged wrongful termination and whistleblower retaliation. Delph claims in his filing that Mah showered her alleged lover Barrica with benefits and gifts offered to no one else at the company, including paying 'hundreds of thousands of dollars on Barrica's personal vacations'. Mah, 'would rub Barrica's upper inner thighs' during company meetings, according to the filing, which also accused Mah of sexual harassment. Delph claimed in his filings that she forced him and other staffers to work from her West Hollywood home where they allegedly saw Mah's sexual partners 'in various stages of undress'. The suit claims Mah bragged about her sexual encounters with other employees, who allegedly had to 'witness their sexual conduct and activities'. He additionally accused Mah of age discrimination, claiming she'd frequently call him an 'old man' and ridicule his opinions in front of other employees. Delph and Mulholland claim in their complaints that they were wrongly fired after raising concerns Mah was misleading investors. Mah denied the allegations and hit back in a suit against Delph on May 15, accusing him of conspiring with Caldbeck and Mulholland to defame her. 'As alleged in the complaints, Mulholland and Delph joined Mr. Caldbeck's attempted 'shake down' in the hopes of making a quick buck themselves. Their claims have no basis in reality,' Mah's lawyers told Daily Mail. All three men are represented by Caldbeck's longtime lawyer, Ivo Labar. They all claim their suits were filed independently from one another. However it is not the first time such allegations have been leveled at Mah. She and her business partner on a previous venture were accused of misappropriating $1.9 million for personal expenses, in 2021 lawsuit filed by one of their business partners. Mah's lawyer confirmed to Daily Mail that the lawsuit was settled out of court in 2023 for an undisclosed amount and that she did not pay 'a penny' towards it. Mah insists that all the claims against her are defamatory and that she is the victim of sexual assault and a smear campaign. She claims she has honored the terms she and Caldbeck mutually agreed on for his investment into Mah's venture, an LLC called Mahway Inception One. 'He knew the risks. He knew that it would take many years before the investment could return a profit,' Mah's complaint read. 'But in fall demanded that Ms. Mah restructure the pay him massive returns that the investment had not yet generated.' Emails from July 2022 between Caldbeck and Mah shown in her lawsuit appear to demonstrate that Caldbeck was at least aware of the investment structure. 'Justin Caldbeck's allegations against Jessica Mah are objectively false. Caldbeck claims he was misled into investing in Inception One,' Mah's lawyers said in a statement. 'But the documents he signed state the exact profit allocation he now says he didn't know about. When Ms. Mah pointed that out, he refused to accept responsibility and filed a sham lawsuit,' the statement continued. Mah's lawsuit claims Caldbeck extorted her by threatening to broadcast her alleged fraud to her investors, the media and even the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Her lawsuit also pointed to Caldbeck's sordid past with sexual misconduct. Six women accused him of unwanted advances in 2017, The Information first reported. At the time, Caldbeck admitted to the allegations and resigned from his post at Binary Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm he co-founded. Mah said Caldbeck repeatedly made 'unwelcome' advances toward her, one of which allegedly occurred during a business meeting at West Hollywood's Pendry hotel in June 2022. In her lawsuit, she alleged Caldbeck 'touched the upper-most part of [her] thigh and put his hand next to her genitalia' after consuming several drinks. Barrica, the woman accused of having an affair with Mah, filed her own lawsuit on May 20. Like Mah, she accused Caldbeck of sexual harassment and extortion. She described an alleged incident where she claims he repeatedly tried to get on top of her and kiss her in an Uber while they were in Paris. Caldbeck denies this ever happened. According to Barrica's lawsuit, Caldbeck tried to, 'leverage his repulsive behavior by threatening to spread objectively false allegations' that she was in a relationship with Mah. Representatives for Mah and Barrica said the two are best friends and have never been romantically or sexually involved. The representatives added that both women were in committed relationships at the time these allegations were made. According both women's lawsuits, they tried to keep a professional relationship with Caldbeck until they had a falling out over his claims of their financial malfeasance. Caldbeck allegedly told her at one point: 'Even if Jess said that I raped her, I wouldn't care. My investors wouldn't care either,' his lawsuit states. Caldbeck's spokesperson, Sallie Hofmeister, dismissed Mah's claims as, 'nothing more than a calculated effort ... to distract from credible accusations that they have misused millions of dollars of investor funds'. 'Nearly a year ago, she explicitly threatened to weaponize past allegations against Mr. Caldbeck if he pursued legal claims related to fraud and embezzlement against her,' Hofmeister told Daily Mail.

Daily Mail​

an hour ago

• Daily Mail​

I've built an empire buying abandoned homes in a city blighted by crime and turning them into Instagram dreams

A Louisiana woman is breathing new life into the heart of a small Southern community that has been blighted by crime by buying up abandoned properties and renovating them. Sara McDaniel, a 47-year-old former teacher turned real estate investor and content creator, returned to her roots in 2016, eager to start a new chapter following a devastating divorce. Guided by her deep faith and fueling passion for something greater, she left Texas behind and found a new beginning in Minden, a tight-knit community of nearly 12,000 residents that has a rate of crime that is much higher than that of the average US city. The crime rate in Minden is 50.84 per 1,000 residents in the typical year, according to Crime Grade. The chance of being a victim of crime in Minden varies by neighborhood – ranging from 1 in 13 in the south neighborhoods to 1 in 28 in the north. McDaniel now owns what she describes as a total of '27 doors' - including 11 short-term rentals with the rest consisting of either long-term rentals, buys and holds or vacant land investments. But she says her investments have done more than just fulfill a personal vision - they've sparked the transformation of a neighborhood - with many of the properties being on the same street - that was once plagued by crime and drugs. Her most successful project to date earned her $220,000 last year, after she bought the property for just $50,000, but McDaniel says her mission has always been about more than profit or recognition. 'It's just a whole street centered around a theme of redemption - redemption of both properties and lives,' she told 'For me, it's about leaving a legacy long after I'm gone.' 'It's a metaphor, taking these blighted and historic properties on this street. You know, it's a metaphor for the things that can happen in our lives,' she added. Originally from Springhill, Louisiana, McDaniel spent her early career in education, working as a third and fourth grade teacher, an assistant principal and an educational sales representative. However when she found herself in the midst of a gut-wrenching divorce in 2009, she discovered the Financial Independence Early Retirement movement (FIRE) - a strategy focused on aggressively saving, often up to 50 percent of one's income, to build long-term financial freedom. She decided to commit to the FIRE movement, prompting her to leave her teaching job and, as she put it, 'put all my eggs in real estate '. 'I also did it to prove to myself that I could,' she said, detailing the sacrifice of living on slashed income. 'It almost became like a game. Like, can I do this and could I take a pay cut and live comfortably?' When she moved to Minden in 2016 she had already dipped her toes in real estate with four properties under her belt. She felt an immediate connection to the town upon arrival, seeing its potential for transformation and decided to pursue her lifelong dream of restoring an old home. After nearly a year of searching, she stumbled upon a broken-down cottage located just on the edge of the Historic Residential District. 'I knew that this house was supposed to be mine,' she said, despite the vacant-look to the property, covered head to toe in Red Tip Photinia's, oak trees, azaleas, daffodils and other southern vegetation. She launched her website, documenting each wall torn down and every fixture lovingly restored. The finished product, 'Sara's Cottage', was what 'set the course' for the work she would take on in the years that followed. After Sara's Cottage, McDaniel purchased a second cottage just a few blocks away, planning to flip it. It was during this project that she gave herself the freedom to experiment, resulting in an explosion of vibrant colors and designs. The property became known as Cottage on Fort, and is now a sought-after Airbnb rental. When another property then became available - an aging set of Spanish-style apartments well past their prime - McDaniel seized the opportunity, marking the start of her journey to restore them. After that, she bought a three-story, 6,000-square-foot Queen Anne-style property called the Fuller-White House. Built in 1905, it now serves as a community gathering venue. The property's upstairs space - the Fuller House Upper Room - was then transformed into a stylish, loft-style apartment. More recently, just across the street from the stunning Fuller-White House, McDaniel purchased another home, which is set to become her first nonprofit venture in honor of her late father. McDaniel's biggest project to date is the renovation at 'The Villas at Spanish Court', which she purchased in 2021 and officially opened as a stunning, short-term rental business in 2023. The property in question was a block of eight villa-style apartments that had sat abandoned for the last 40 years. Inside, the property's condition was nothing short of disastrous - torn-up floors, caved-in ceilings and even bullet holes through the windows - but McDaniel still saw its potential. Those who learned of McDaniel's interest cautioned her against the purchase, suggesting that the only solution to save it would be to bulldoze the entire structure. Despite the warnings, McDaniel fell in love with the property and, in 2021, purchased The Villas at Spanish Court apartments for $51,306 - funded entirely by the savings she had diligently built throughout her journey. 'I just have this uncanny ability when I look at something that is blighted and nobody else wants to touch, like bullet holes in windows,' she said. 'I can just see what the after looks like in my head.' 'Honestly, I just wanted to bring it back, because everybody said it couldn't be done right. Everybody said I needed to bulldoze and start over,' McDaniel explained. Her ultimate goal for the property was to preserve as many of the original details as possible during the renovation. However, McDaniel realized she made a rookie mistake after closing the deal - she forgot to secure an environmental hazard assessment on the structure. The assessment tests for the presence of both asbestos and lead paint - hazards McDaniel soon discovered were prevalent throughout the property. 'I just got caught up in the moment and the excitement,' McDaniel explained. 'Definitely the biggest oh no moment of the project.' 'I mean real talk, I was on medication for awhile because I had so much anxiety about it, especially being $80,000 over budget thinking, is anybody going to stay after I do all of this? Is it going to be worth it?' she added. 'It was really bad, but it was real life.' Amid a time of overwhelming doubt, McDaniel received an unexpected email from a distant cousin who had lived in the property back in the 70s. In it, she referred to McDaniel as a 'kinsman redeemer', bringing the once-forgotten property back to life and, in doing so, redeeming her own story. 'When I got that email, it just washed me with a peace,' McDaniel said. 'So I just plugged forward.' She was able to secure a $46,731 loan with a 0 percent interest rate with the Brownfield Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, solving the asbestos and lead paint problem. In another attempt at getting the villas up and running, McDaniel sold her Texas home for $175,354 and contributed an additional $8,000 from her various income streams to help cover renovation costs. She also secured an interim construction loan of $202,725 from a local bank, followed by a permanent mortgage of $290,710, which she used to pay off the interim loan and complete the renovation. Finally, in February 2023, The Villas at Spanish Court officially 'reopened' for business. Each villa showcases its own unique charm, featuring vibrant colors, vintage archways and other subtle yet stunning architectural details that harken back to their 1930s origins. As an extra loving touch - and a nod to the original design - McDaniel added patio chairs, string lights and solo stoves outside each villa, inviting guests to enjoy the outdoors and connect with the community during their stay. 'No two villas are the same,' McDaniel explained. 'They're all designed differently and, for the most part, seven of them are feminine and one is masculine. But that has not deterred any business for many men.' In 2024 the villas brought in $224,133 revenue from Airbnb bookings. With McDaniel's impressive collection of properties, one might assume she's reached the end of her journey - but she isn't slowing down anytime soon. 'I actually bought a building downtown, and this will be my first commercial property outside housing, if you will,' McDaniel told To follow McDaniel's real estate journey, visit her personal blog at or find her on social media under @simplysoutherncottage across all platforms.

Daily Mail​

an hour ago

• Daily Mail​

New Trader Joe's opens across the street from existing location

By Trader Joe's customers were confused after a new California location opened right across the street from another. A new store opened at 14140 Riverside Drive in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, on June 6. However there was already an existing Trader Joe's location only about 100 yards away - at 14119 Riverside Drive. 'Maybe we are living in a simulation, because that seems like a glitch in the matrix,' a TikTok user commented on a video of the two stores posted by ShavsPaper. One TikToker claimed that the original store is one of the busiest in the state, so the retailer is testing the two spots. Another claimed the opening of the new store was delayed, so the chain had to re-sign the lease for the old location. Trader Joe's has not confirmed the reason, but the chain is planning to operate both of them. 'We've had a great relationship with our customers in Sherman Oaks for 52 years, and we plan to keep both stores open,' Trader Joe's spokesperson Nakia Rohde told Many shoppers 'don't see the problem' with two stores and believe multiple locations are a 'win-win' when looking for popular items like its viral mini tote bags. L.A. in a Minute host Evan Lovett had nothing but good things to say about the new location last week in a TikTok video. 'It's modern, it's spacious, it's got an expanded freezer and refrigerated section. It's a great store,' he said. Lovett also pointed out that it has a separate parking garage, unlike the other Riverside Drive store. 'The smaller Trader Joe's wasn't crowded and all the stuff was in there. I parked with no issue for the first time ever on a Sunday,' a shopper claimed on TikTok. A few shoppers insisted the older location is superior even though it makes some customers feel 'claustrophobic.' 'Who wants to park your car in a garage that you need a ticket for?! Then get into a small elevator! Just wait until it gets crowded w/all those new apartments in that complex!,' a person commented. '[expletive] no, I won't go. The old one is fantastic: You get in and out in minutes, and the staff is fantastic,' another shopper responded. Others insisted they would visit the new store when they had a chance but would continue visiting the other one now that it will be 'mostly empty.' Founded in 1967, Trader Joe's has become a supermarket empire in the US operating about 600 locations. The chain made headlines last year after its tote bags became the talk of TikTok. Shoppers began reselling its Mini Insulated Totes for $100 on eBay , and customers would line up around the block just to get their hands on the $3 bags. Trader Joe's brings back bags from time to time, and shoppers were in a frenzy last March after its $4 collapsible totes returned to stores. The chain is in the process of opening nearly two dozen locations across 13 states, the first bunch launching a few months ago.