Jared Solomon tried to cut back his impending jail sentence — which may very well be as much as 16 years — for the $9.5 million rip-off he ran at Vornado Realty Belief. However the decide overseeing the case denied his request to subpoena the REIT’s information.
Solomon, a former vp of leasing at Vornado, was convicted in April on 4 counts of fraud and identification theft for a years-long scheme he ran on the firm. Solomon created pretend brokerages and billed Vornado for tens of millions of {dollars} in providers that his sham corporations by no means carried out.
Federal sentencing pointers advocate a time period of 159 to 192 months, and are primarily based partly on the sum of money Solomon stole. (The rules are a suggestion, and the precise sentence could also be completely different.)
Anthony Cecutti, Solomon’s court-appointed lawyer, argued that the precise loss could also be lower than the $9.5 million determine.
Cecutti utilized to subpoena Vornado’s basic ledger account, insurance policies round amortization and write-offs and copies of the insurance coverage declare it filed associated to the theft. He mentioned he needed to search out out if Vornado baked the brokerage commissions into the leases.
“If that’s the case and Vornado recovered the brokerage commissions from the tenant and amortized over the course of the lease, the determine is probably not a real financial loss to Vornado,” he wrote in court docket filings earlier this month. “Provided that loss is the principal driver of a 159 to 192 month vary, an alternate loss quantity might transfer the Pointers vary considerably.”
Vornado opposed the applying for a subpoena, saying it might be an unfair burden that might take weeks of workers’ time to uncover the information.
On Tuesday Decide Loretta Preska quashed the subpoena, explaining that — no matter Vornado’s accounting practices — the quantity at concern is the $9.5 million Solomon stole.
“The trial proof established the quantity of the loss,” she wrote. “Loss is the quantity the sufferer was fraudulently induced to pay.”
Insurance coverage payout
Solomon additionally made a request to subpoena Vornado’s insurer, The Nice American Insurance coverage Firm, for data on the $9.7 million declare the REIT filed associated to the fraud.
Solomon mentioned Nice American has to this point paid Vornado $2.9 million, and that the insurance coverage firm’s evaluation may signify a extra correct, third-party calculation of the loss.
The insurance coverage payout can be related, he argued, on the subject of figuring out the order Vornado and Nice American can be paid in restitution from the sale of two houses — a $4.5 million home in Westchester and a $3.6 million co-op condominium on the Higher East Facet — Solomon purchased with the stolen cash.
“Making use of that order appropriately requires understanding how a lot of Vornado’s $9,732,799.55 declare has already been paid by Nice American and the way a lot stays Vornado’s personal,” Cecutti wrote.
Nice American, which filed a civil lawsuit in opposition to Solomon in December, opposed the applying for the subpoena, which Decide Preska additionally quashed.
Cecutti additionally argued that Vornado by no means paid Solomon 4,400 firm shares as a result of him as a part of a separation settlement that may very well be value no less than $600,000 — cash that must be utilized to cut back the loss quantity.
Solomon is presently being held within the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, and needed to be appointed a brand new lawyer in Might after running out of money to pay his trial lawyer.
His sentencing was initially scheduled for August, however has been postponed 3 times. It’s now scheduled for Nov. 5.
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