Prosecutors Say Ex-Vornado Exec Invented Companies To Steal Millions From REIT

A former leasing executive with Vornado Realty Trust is accused of inventing brokerage firms to bilk his employer of nearly $10M over 15 years.

Jared Solomon created companies named Margoux Media and Cobalt Advisors and submitted invoices on their behalf to Vornado to charge his former employer $9.5M, according to a filing by federal prosecutors this month in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Solomon was indicted on one count each of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in December. If found guilty, Solomon will have to repay the millions he stole and could spend 20 years in prison.

Last month, Solomon's attorney filed a motion to dismiss the charges, claiming the indictment was overly broad and that the facts didn't add up to ground for fraud. In a response filed Sept. 3, first reported by The Real Deal, U.S. Attorney Sean Buckley and Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Margulies introduced more evidence to convince Senior U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska to allow the case to continue.

In the response, prosecutors said Solomon copied and pasted a signature from an unidentified executive of a company that had a licensing agreement with Vornado on invoices, claiming the executive was the chief financial officer of Margoux Media.

Solomon is accused of creating at least 17 fake invoices using the two company names — and a third real brokerage company that was unaware its name was being used by Solomon — to prompt Vornado to make payments for nonexistent services, according to the filing.

Solomon used fake email addresses and burner phone numbers to communicate with Vornado executives who expressed concerns about the payments, according to prosecutors. 

The initial Dec. 3 indictment alleged that Solomon engaged in a scheme to defraud “Victim Company-1” between 2009 and 2023. Solomon reportedly worked on leasing Vornado’s digital billboards in Times Square.

The timeline laid out in the court filing also aligns with Solomon's tenure at Vornado, according to archived versions of the company's website accessed via the Internet Archive. 

Some of Solomon’s coworkers had reportedly questioned how the then-executive could afford real estate purchases he had made with his Vornado salary, TRD previously reported. 

Solomon is accused of using the money to help finance the purchase of a $4M apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and $4.2M to close on a six-bedroom home in Purchase, New York, according to court documents. The remainder of the allegedly fraudulent proceeds Solomon used on personal expenses, including a Porsche and a country club membership. 

Earlier this year, prosecutors said Solomon reached an agreement in principle for the former executive to change his not guilty plea, but Solomon has since changed defense attorneys, and no formal agreement has been reached, TRD reported. 

Solomon's new attorney, Peter Toumbekis, didn't respond to Bisnow's request for comment.