Chum of Iraq\'d5s Chalabi Finds SoHo Condo of Mass Distinction for $5.95 M.

One might think supplying arms for the Iraq war would buy you a fancier apartment than being a 1980â??s Jersey hair metal icon. But Manhattan is tricky that way.

In June, Garden State rocker Jon Bon Jovi paid $24 million for the penthouse apartment at the New Museum building in SoHo. Yet this month, an eerie-sounding buyer named the Financial Instrument & Investment Corporation paid a comparably petite $5.95 million sum for a second-floor condo in Mr. Bon Joviâ??s new building.

The unit owner is listed in city records as FIIC chairman and C.E.O. Abdul Huda Farouki, a longtime friend of the disgraced former deputy Iraqi prime minister and neocon darling Ahmed Chalabi. It isnâ??t clear if Mr. Farouki will be living in the apartment, although his name is on mortgage and power-of-attorney filings. He did not return calls and an e-mail to his office.

Erinys, a private security firm funded by the Jordanian-American investor, was cited by a U.S. government agency last year for â??possible fraud, waste and abuseâ? in Iraq.

The firm said it had fulfilled its $104 million oil-and-power-systems-protection contract, and that Mr. Faroukiâ??s ties to Mr. Chalabi didnâ??t play a role in winning the deal. But two years earlier, a $327 million contract with Mr. Faroukiâ??s start-up Nour USAâ??for providing weapons and supplies to the new Iraq security forcesâ??was canceled after his financial and social ties to Mr. Chalabi were profiled in Newsday.

Mr. Farouki, described in published reports as a Washington insider and a serious Democratic donor, will have a condo where the apartments average about 4,450 square feet. The 1895 Beaux-Arts building was renovated into luxury lofts last decade, though the original Grecian columns, Maplewood floors and brick walls stuck around.

What will the apartment look like? According to a recent profile of Mr. Faroukiâ??s family house in Aspen (â??designed for a great party at every turnâ?), his style combines â??French, Alpine and Middle Eastern.â?

City deeds list the seller as Westchester firm Laurel Capital, Inc. Only three years ago, the apartment was sold for just $3 millionâ??about half what Mr. Farouki paid.