US-Based CEO Chokes Passenger On Cruise For Crude Comment On Wife: Report

The CEO of a California-based home mortgage lending company was taken into custody for attacking a fellow traveller on a cruise.

Kenneth DeGiorgio, the CEO of First American Financial Corporation, choked the passenger, identified by his initials M.A., after he allegedly passed an offensive comment about his wife.

The man was dancing barefoot in one of the ship's cocktail bars. He allegedly called DeGiorgio's wife a “f**king bitch” for asking him to stop dancing barefoot, The New York Post reported.

According to a federal complaint, DeGiorgio told the other man, “I'll f**king kill you,” as he attacked him in one of the cocktail lounges on the adults-only Virgin Voyages ship, Resilient Lady, on Monday.

DeGiorgio, identified as “a heavy-set white male,” was taken into custody by FBI officials after the Virgin Voyages ship arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Tuesday, The Independent reported.

The passenger told federal investigators he “felt as if his throat was going to be ripped out” as DeGiorgio grabbed him by the neck.

The incident reportedly transpired in international seas roughly 70 nautical miles west of Fort-De-France, Martinique, and began when DeGiorgio's wife, Nichol DeGiorgio, asked the victim to put his shoes back on.

“Look, we are all grown-ups here, can you put your shoes on?” Nichol asked M.A. while he was dancing barefoot in the Resilient Lady's ‘On the Rocks' bar.

M.A. allegedly shot back, “Shut up, you f**king b*tch,” per the records.

According to the lawsuit, DeGiorgio was then spotted on camera stepping across the dance floor, attacking M.A., snatching him by the throat, and dragging him to the ground.

The ship's captain ordered passenger DeGiorgio to remain “confined to [the] cabin pending arrival at the next port of call”, according to the lawsuit.

Ms Nichol told agents the second man “never touched her,” but she reprimanded herself for requesting M.A. to put on his shoes.

A representative for DeGiorgio's legal team said that he reacted to the “actions of an individual who harassed his wife,” which made her feel “threatened and intimidated.”

Despite being accused of a minor infraction, DeGiorgio is determined to be cleared of any wrongdoing.