Blue Shield of California fires CTO for extravagant spending with girlfriend and ‘Sharknado’ actress Tara Reid

Aaron Kaufman, former CTO of Blue Shield of California, way over spent on his corporate credit card to take trips with his "Sharknado" star girlfriend Tara Reid.

Last month, Blue Shield of California fired its chief technology officer Aaron Kaufman for extravagant spending on his corporate credit card. He allegedly spent more than $100,000 on the card, some of which went to trips with his “Sharknado” actress girlfirend Tara Reid.

Interesting couple…

A countersuit filed by Blue Shield last Tuesday, citing Kaufman for fraud, revealed some of the details of his spending.

Kaufman spent $17,491 on a trip to Florida to see Reid, the LA Times reported. He also spent $832 for just one night at the W hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and later spent $1,382 on drinks at Hollywood nightclub, the Warwick.

Beyond the spending, there was some controversy about a bowling party he paid for while in the company of Reid at a San Francisco alley – which still cost $879.84. As the Times reported:

“At some point during the evening, Mr. Kaufman’s girlfriend acted inappropriately, taking inappropriate photographs of herself and sharing them,” the company said in court documents. Blue Shield confirmed that it was referring to Reid.

“Word of the behavior at the bowling alley event spread quickly at Blue Shield and caused a great disturbance within the company. Employees were embarrassed,” according to the company.

Apparently about 75 percent of his spending on the corporate credit card was not business related. And in his defense, Kaufman said as he’s going through a divorce, his wife “locked up” his credit cards and bank accounts. Sounds like that was a pretty wise decision on her part.

Kaufman didn’t have trouble finding a new position after his March 10 termination. He’s now executive vice president and chief product officer at SocialWellth in Las Vegas.

Kaufman fought back after being fired, claiming that this was an act of revenge after he reported the company’s financial wrongdoings. He also said in his lawsuit that they fired him just one day before he was supposed to receive his $450,000 bonus from 2014.

“Mr. Kaufman went to great lengths to avoid scrutiny of his expenses,” Steve Shivinsky, a spokesman for Blue Shield told the Times about Kaufman’s allegations, “including intentionally misrepresenting his personal activities as corporate events.”

The insurer has had issues with money recently. California officials revoked he nonprofit’s tax-exempt status last August after an audit because of spending and executive compensation. Blue Shield is protesting that decision.

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