Federal prosecutors have accused former Vornado Realty Trust leasing executive Jared Solomon of orchestrating a scheme that allegedly defrauded his employer out of $9.5 million over 15 years. Solomon was arrested in December and charged by the Southern District of New York, though the company is not named in court documents. Sources confirmed to The Real Deal that the firm involved is Vornado Realty Trust.
According to prosecutors, Solomon set up fake brokerage companies, Margoux Media and Cobalt Advisors, and submitted invoices for services that were never performed. “The defendant carried out his fraud scheme by using fake commercial real estate agreements — mainly fake broker agreements, among other types of agreements — and fake invoices that called for Victim Company-1 to issue checks and wire payments to one of three purported real estate broker companies,” prosecutors wrote in court papers.
One of the three brokerages used was an actual firm, but prosecutors said it had no knowledge its name was being used in the scheme. Prosecutors allege that Solomon copied a signature from an executive who signed a legitimate licensing agreement with Vornado in 2015 and used it on documents claiming the executive was chief financial officer at Margoux Media.
Solomon also reportedly used burner phone numbers and fake email addresses to respond to questions from senior Vornado staff about suspicious payments. In 2019, after Vornado made a $1.4 million payment to Margoux Media, Solomon allegedly transferred those funds along with nearly $1 million more in fraud proceeds to help buy a $4 million apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. “Only one week later, the defendant, in turn, wired that amount, plus nearly $1 million in additional fraud proceeds that the defendant had previously obtained from Victim Company-1, to a real estate attorney to finance part of the purchase of a $4 million apartment located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan,” according to prosecutors.
Neither Solomon nor his attorney responded to requests for comment.
The new allegations were made public when federal prosecutors responded earlier this month to Solomon’s motion seeking dismissal of charges. They argued against claims that the indictment was too vague and said it met legal requirements.
Earlier this year, prosecutors told the judge they had reached an agreement in principle for Solomon to change his plea from not guilty. However, after changing attorneys, no formal deal has been finalized.
If convicted, Solomon could face up to 20 years in prison.
