Of all the bears to poke in NY real estate, did he really have to pick Steve Roth?

After a rapid-fire five-day trial, former Vornado dealmaker Jared Solomon was convicted of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft & bank fraud, in connection w/ a long-running scheme to defraud the REIT. The gist: Solomon set up fugazi brokerages to double-end leasing deals and billed the REIT for millions, which he then YOLO’d into Westchester & UES homes, a Porsche, even a country club membership. When Vornado execs flagged some of the payments as problematic, Solomon used fake emails and even burner phones (Stringer would approve) to throw them off. 👇

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The epicenter of the scheme was VNO’s digital billboard at 1540 Broadway at the coveted bow-tie in Times Square. One of the REIT’s tenants was electronics giant LG, which leased the billboard through its intermediary Havas Media. Though Havas didn’t use a broker in deal negotiations, Solomon submitted $1.5M of invoices to be paid to Havas’ purported rep, Margoux Media. In total, Margoux, a shamco created by Solomon, eventually billed Vornado $8.6M. Solomon’s defense attorney countered that Margoux (and other shamcos) were legit, and that Vornado was mad b/c it didn’t know they were controlled by Solomon. “They found out and got upset,” the attorney said. (Note: Much of this is per TRD’s mustachioed correspondent in court, Rich Bockmann, who broke the initial story.) Meanwhile, Solomon had already admitted to prosecutors back in ‘24 that Margoux was made up (and that he had signed as “Mark Mallet”). The entire case has been a comedy of legal snafus: switched up pleas, attorneys firing clients – “complete breakdown in the attorney-client relationship” – and patchy cross-examinations.

There’s also a touch of bank fraud here, which really is the thing that gets you dinged. A JPM employee testified that Solomon opened an acct. in Margoux’s name across from VNO HQ at 888 Seventh (in Roth’s line of sight, smh 😅 ). Solomon provided a business certificate that should have been – but supposedly wasn’t – filed w/ the Manhattan County Clerk’s office.

An interesting nugget on in-house dealmaker comp: Solomon’s boss & mentor, VNO leasing czar (and legit industry legend) Glen Weiss testified that Solomon’s salary had gone from $160K in ‘09 – when the mishegas began – to $772K by ‘23 – certainly a nice living, but one that wasn’t enough for Solomon, who frequently griped that his comp was a far cry from the girthier ones top outside brokers can command.

“He was generally dissatisfied with his compensation,” Weiss said. (After leaving VNO, Solomon did a cameo at Newmark, later suing the brokerage for turning off the spigot “abruptly after Solomon was indicted in a matter entirely unrelated to his work.” 👏 👏 👏 ) Solomon now faces up to 13Y in prison, and was remanded into custody after the judge deemed him a ✈ risk. Sentencing is this summer.

Bonus shithousery: Solomon pushed to have some evidence excluded from the trial, arguing that his luxury-home purchases could create a “wealth-based bias.” 🔱

This week on the pod, we finally tackle the story of Mark Nussbaum – the CRE attorney who became the nexus of the underground Orthodox dealmaking world, facilitating billions of dollars in deals and "show capital" before it all collapsed in a wave of lawsuits, criminal fraud allegations, and even the suicide of a close collaborator. Nussbaum's tale is a lens into the gray economy of the frum, where huge deals can be done on a handshake under the aegis of a close-knit community. We also explore NYC’s latest push for a pied-à-terre tax, which has serious momentum with Mayor Mamdani & Gov. Hochul in lockstep. Finally, we look at how Dubai billionaire developer Hussain Sajwani's ultra-luxe condo at the site of the Surfside tragedy has yet to sell a single unit – a new dev launch is like an IPO, and you only get one shot at setting the narrative. Plus, our Punch List rundown of the newsiest industry happenings: SREIT's $1.7B refi, SL Green's Hyundai rescue, and Ares' C-PACE bet.

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Key investors in Vlad Doronin’s ultra-luxe hospitality group Aman are demanding answers about how funds from a global money laundering figure found their way into Aman deals, according to a report from investigative publication Whale Hunting.

The involvement of Benjamin Mauerberger in Aman projects such as Janu Dubai has led to questions from Aman investors such as Saudi sovereign fund PIF & Jonathan Goldstein’s Cain International, according to the publication. Cain first partnered w/ Aman in ‘19, providing Doronin $450M in mezz for the Aman New York @ the Crown Building. In ‘22, Cain & PIF bought into the parent co., investing $900M at a $3B valuation, and Aman is involved in Cain’s flagship development, One Beverly Hills. Mauerberger, who reportedly laundered proceeds from Cambodia-based scam factories and is wanted in Thailand, first hit Doronin’s radar in ‘23, when he bought 2 floors of an Aman condo in Bangkok. He then bought a $21M pad at the Aman New York, and reportedly traveled to Phuket w/ Doronin to scout a site for Aman sister brand Janu. When Dubai was eventually selected as a Janu location, a Mauerberger vehicle invested in the development entity, per Whale Hunting. Here’s the publication:

The legal actions in Singapore and Thailand caused alarm in the boardrooms of PIF and Cain International, who together own about 30% of Aman. PIF asked Aman’s general counsel for explanations but was not satisfied with the response, according to a source. Cain executives wrote to the Aman board seeking clarification about the ownership structures of properties in Dubai, the Maldives, and Japan.

A couple weeks ago, a developer finalizing funding for a South Florida ground-up project received ominous tidings from his mezz provider, King Street Capital Management: The lender was reevaluating its CRE pipeline, and would not be funding the deal, the developer later recounted to his brokerage team, multiple sources familiar with the 11th-hour pullout told The Promote. A Blackstone unit was lined up to provide the sr. debt, per sources – unclear where the capstack now stands. (Insiders: Read on 👇 )