Jared Solomon, the former Vornado vice president accused of embezzling more than $9 million from the REIT, has decided to fight the charges.
Solomon, alongside his attorney, Peter Toumbekis, pleaded not guilty on December 4 after prosecutors from the U.S. Southern District’s office charged him with one count each of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
In May, prosecutors told the judge overseeing the case that they had reached an agreement in principle with Solomon to change his plea to guilty. But soon after, Solomon brought on a new legal team at Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins, who said they needed more time to review his case.
The judge decided to extend the schedule for pretrial motions. After about three months, the Aidalia, Bertuna & Kamins attorneys told the court last week there had been a “complete breakdown in the attorney-client relationship” and they would be resigning from the case.
“We have reached the ‘point of no return’ in our representation of Mr. Solomon,” attorney Arthur Aidala wrote. “Despite our best efforts, the attorney-client relationship is beyond repair. Due to multiple significant communication-related issues, we do not believe we can provide an adequate defense for Mr. Solomon any longer.”
Aidala additionally noted that Toumbekis had remained involved in the case, and on Monday, Toumbekis told the court that he plans to move to dismiss the charges on constitutional grounds on Sept. 29.
Toumbekis said that the government’s indictment fails to provide clear and specific allegations that Solomon can defend himself against.
“Here, the indictment provides no detail whatsoever — no specific dates, acts, victims, misrepresentations, or transmissions,” he wrote. “The lack of meaningful factual allegations renders the indictment impermissibly vague and invites arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement.”
A spokesperson for the Southern District U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment.
The government’s indictment is light on details.
It accused Solomon of devising a scheme to defraud an unidentified “Victim Company 1” between 2009 and 2023, but didn’t explain anything about how the scheme operated.
A person familiar with the allegations, however, told The Real Deal that it has to do with Vornado’s Times Square signage business.
If found guilty, Solomon faces up to 20 years in prison and will have to pay the millions he allegedly stole. That allegedly includes a Westchester home at Three Beverly Road in Purchase, New York (which records show Solomon bought for $4.55 million in 2023), a co-op apartment at 23 East 74th Street ($3.95 million in 2020, per StreetEasy) as well as money in Solomon’s bank account.
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Former Vornado exec charged with embezzling millions from REIT
