Lebanon's prime minister reportedly gave bikini-model mistress $16 million

He was a sucker for her "engaging personality.''

The prime minister of Lebanon shelled out more than $16 million to his bikini-model mistress, nearly all of it in a single bank transaction, a new report says.

Lebanese pol Saad Hariri, a married father of three, met South African stunner Candice van der Merwe at a luxury resort in the Seychelles off the coast of Africa in 2013, The New York Times said, citing court documents.

In May of that year, the then-20-year-old model received $15,299,965 in her bank account thanks to a money transfer from Hariri, who was 43 at the time, the paper said.

Van der Merwe would later say in an affidavit amid a tax probe into the money that people liked her because of her "healthy lifestyle."

"I have also been told that I have a very engaging personality," said the model, who once listed her hobbies as listening to Celine Dion and jet-skiing.

Previously, the model's reported annual earnings had never exceeded $5,400.

South African authorities began investigating her newfound wealth, which she insisted should be considered a nontaxable gift.

The calendar poser later received another $1 million from her married boyfriend for legal and other expenses related to the case. He also bought her two cars worth $250,000, including a new convertible Audi R8 Spyder.

Hariri was not prime minister when the money transfers were made, although he was the head of his political party and one of the country's best-known pols. There is no indication he used any money except his own, and there also are no known laws he violated, the report said.

The prime minister — whose net worth was estimated at $1.5 billion by Forbes last year — inherited a construction business from his father, former Lebanon Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005.

News of Saad's affair — which van der Merwe told the court has since ended — comes at a particularly bad time for him: His business is flailing, along with his country's economy.

While Van der Merwe insisted in court papers everything she received from Hariri was a gift, even her lawyers acknowledged they could understand why authorities might have a problem believing "such largesse was bestowed on a young girl" from a man in a "casual relationship'' with her.

Either way, a South African judge on the case quipped in court papers in 2015, "Lady luck, it would seem, suddenly smiled on [her]."

The model's relationship with Hariri was exposed only this year in the court documents related to her tax case.

Neither the prime minister nor the model responded to the Times' requests for comment.