Giuliani sued over luxurious condominium by Georgia election staff who gained $148 million judgment
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The 2 former Georgia election staff who gained a $148 million judgment in opposition to Rudolph Giuliani filed a civil lawsuit in opposition to the onetime private lawyer to Donald Trump, accusing him of attempting to place his Florida luxurious condominium past their attain.
In a grievance on Friday, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea’ “Shaye” Moss challenged Giuliani’s July 13 declaration that the Palm Seaside condominium was his new main residence.
They referred to as it a “brazen” try by the previous New York Metropolis mayor to profit from a Florida regulation shielding an individual’s “homestead” from courtroom judgments.
Giuliani made the declaration in the future after a federal choose dismissed his chapter case, which had protected him from the $148 million judgment.
Citing statements on his day by day web broadcasts, Freeman and Moss stated Giuliani has since lived primarily or fully elsewhere, and is simply pretending to dwell in Florida to evade accountability for his actions.
“He’s attempting to ‘toy with’ Florida’s homestead exemption to protect a multi-million greenback asset from his collectors,” they stated of their grievance filed in Manhattan federal courtroom.
Freeman and Moss need courtroom permission to implement an Aug. 8 lien in opposition to Giuliani’s condominium and, in the event that they select, seize and promote the property. Giuliani additionally has a house in Manhattan.
“The enchantment of the objectively unreasonable $148 million verdict hasn’t even been heard, but opposing counsel continues to take steps designed to harass and intimidate the mayor,” Giuliani’s spokesman Ted Goodman stated in an e-mail.
“This lawsuit has all the time been designed to censor and bully the mayor, and to discourage others from exercising their proper to talk up and to talk out,” Goodman added.
Final December, a Washington jury ordered Giuliani to pay the $148 million to Freeman and Moss, who stated he defamed them and destroyed their repute by means of lies that they tried to assist steal the 2020 U.S. presidential election from Trump.
Giuliani, 80, filed for Chapter 11 chapter the next week. The federal choose overseeing that case dismissed it after discovering that Giuliani failed to supply a whole image of his funds and to satisfy courtroom deadlines.
That dismissal, which Giuliani additionally sought, eradicated the likelihood a trustee may take over his funds and freed him to enchantment the $148 million judgment, but additionally eliminated authorized protections from collectors like Freeman and Moss.
The case is Freeman et al v. Giuliani, U.S. District Courtroom, Southern District of New York, No. 24-06563.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; enhancing by Jonathan Oatis)
