Amanda Ungaro, the Brazilian former model deported from the United States last year amid a custody battle with Donald Trump's special envoy, Paolo Zampolli, has accused him of stealing from his own mother, forcing her out of her home, and placing her in a nursing home.
'Paolo Zampolli is a sick individual. He stole from his mother, kicked her out of her home, and placed her in a nursing home,' Ungaro said in written responses published on 18 April by the Courier's Epstein investigation project. 'Paolo Zampolli hates women.'
Ungaro, 41, did not provide evidence for the claim.
The interview, translated from Portuguese, covered Ungaro's roughly two-decade relationship with the Milan-born businessman and her allegations about his role arranging visas for foreign models.
Zampolli, 56, serves as Trump's Special Envoy for Global Partnerships. He founded ID Model Management in the 1990s and has long maintained he introduced Melania Knauss to Trump at a 1998 New York fashion party.
Ungaro Alleges Years of Violence and Control by Zampolli
Ungaro told the outlet that she first met Zampolli when she was 15 and that he allegedly began pursuing her romantically from that point. She said she was 17 when she arrived in New York from the interior of Brazil, and that Zampolli, more than a decade older, reportedly exploited her isolation from family to pull her into a relationship.
'One night - just before an audition for a fashion show that Paolo didn't want me to do - I was punched in the face,' she said. The injury prevented her from attending,Ungaro claimed.
Their home, she said, felt more like 'a club' than a family household. Ungaro alleged psychological abuse, domestic violence and false imprisonment across the relationship, which lasted roughly two decades before the couple separated in 2023.
Zampolli has previously told The Daily Beast the relationship was 'very difficult' and said he stuck around 'for my son.'
Zampolli's Role as Melania Trump's Alleged Visa Fixer Questioned
Ungaro disputed the widely repeated account that Zampolli introduced Melania to Donald Trump, calling it a 'false narrative' built on 'a pact' between Zampolli and the Trumps. Both Melania and Zampolli have maintained that Zampolli did make the introduction at a Kit Kat Club event during New York Fashion Week in September 1998.
In the same interview, she described Zampolli as the person who negotiated visas for models working in the United States. 'He circumvented the law, enabling the models to work and earn money illegally. He did the same with me when I joined the agency,' she said.
Ungaro was arrested in Miami in June 2025 on fraud charges tied to allegedly operating an unlicensed clinic and was placed in ICE custody after her visa was found to have expired. A New York Times investigation in March reported that Zampolli contacted a senior ICE official during the custody dispute. He told the newspaper he had not directed the deportation but contacted the agency because he was 'curious.' The Department of Homeland Security denied that the removal was politically motivated.
Before her deportation, Ungaro said she tried to reach Melania through intermediaries but the 'First Lady did nothing.' A spokesperson for Melania Trump told the New York Times she 'has no knowledge of, nor involvement in, the personal affairs of Mr Zampolli and Ms Ungaro.'
The couple's 16-year-old son, Giovanni, is living with Zampolli in New York. Ungaro claimed a Brazilian court ordered the child to remain in Brazil, but that Zampolli 'influenced and funded him to return.' She said she witnessed 'highly compromising interactions' during her years with Zampolli and would testify before the House Oversight Committee if asked.
