Billionaire Ira Rennert grilled in court over MagCorp case

Billionaire mining mogul Ira Rennert could have used an asbestos suit at times on Thursday.

Rennert, who seldom speaks in public, was forced to testify for about six hours in Manhattan federal court over allegations that he looted his company and used the cash to finance construction of a 29-bedroom, 39-bath estate in the Hamptons.

Faced with questions from a lawyer for creditors of the company, MagCorp, Rennert was forced to admit that he had gotten some facts wrong in a deposition taken for this suit.

Leo Beus, the lawyer for MagCorp’s trustee, was aiming to undercut Rennert’s credibility.

“Did you ever understand there was a need for new … cell technology?” asked Beus, referring to a slide of an August 2001 article written by MagCorp’s executives about the need to find a better way to produce magnesium.

“Yes,” Rennert answered.

Beus then pointed out that Rennert said no in his sworn deposition.

“I was mistaken,” Rennert said.

Beus pointed out more than five other discrepancies.

“Obviously, I don’t recall things that happened 20 to 25 years ago. I’m sorry. I wasn’t prepared for the depositions,” Rennert said.

The trustee, Lee Buchwald, claims Rennert took more than $100 million in dividends in 1996 and 1998 — leaving the company too weak to survive. It went bankrupt in 2001.

Rennert denies the charges — and claims the 2001 recession did in MagCorp.

Buchwald is seeking to claw back about $600 million from Rennert’s Renco Group — one of the largest privately held companies in New York, according to Crain’s New York Business.