A judge pulled the plug on Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy case Friday, partly because the former mayor and Trump adviser was not forthcoming about his finances.
The decision clears the way for Giuliani’s biggest creditors — Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, the Georgia election workers he owes $148 million for blowing up their lives with baseless accusations of ballot fraud — to immediately enforce that eye-popping judgment in federal court in Washington, D.C. That may include going after his up-for-sale E. 66th St. apartment and his Palm Beach, Florida, condo. Friday’s move also unfreezes more than a half dozen other lawsuits pending against Giuliani, which collectively demand more than $150 million in addition to the cash owed the election workers.
White Plains federal bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane said Giuliani had failed to provide an accurate and complete picture of his financial affairs since seeking bankruptcy protection. The information he did disclose, the judge wrote in his opinion, showed that Giuliani was using personal funds to pay off expenses associated with his businesses without the court’s approval. He said Giuliani had “completely failed” to provide anything showing his limited liability companies were operating above board.
In his paperwork, Giuliani purported to receive no income other than his Social Security benefits — which was belied by the $15,000 a month he raked in from his since-scrapped WABC radio show and between $100,000 and $150,000 from his podcast, “America’s Mayor Live,” Lane wrote.
The judge stated that when most debtors are confronted with complaints about failing to adhere to the bankruptcy code’s obligations, they respond by trying to rectify some, “if not all,” of them.
“By contrast, Mr. Giuliani has done nothing,” Lane wrote.
“The lack of financial transparency is particularly troubling given concerns that Mr. Giuliani has engaged in self-dealing and that he has potential conflicts of interest that would hamper the administration of his bankruptcy case,” the judge later added.
“Mr. Giuliani’s counsel also stated that Mr. Giuliani has not been able to retain any bookkeeper or accountant to work on his behalf … In the court’s experience, such a fact is highly unusual and troubling given that the bankruptcy case has been pending for more than six months.”
When reached for comment, a lawyer for Giuliani said he would proceed by appealing the massive judgment awarded to Freeman and Moss, her daughter, in December. He said he agreed with Lane’s decision but not the way he reached it.
“We believe that the court incorrectly adapted the creditors’ views of the facts of the case but reached the correct result by dismissing the case,” Heath Berger said, referring to the allegation that Giuliani’s “hiding millions of dollars.”
At a hearing earlier this week, an attorney for Freeman and Moss accused the man once known as “America’s Mayor” of attempting to “push pause” on his money troubles without taking action to address them, prompting an outburst from Giuliani that saw Lane threaten to mute him.
Freeman and Moss, who could not immediately be reached for comment, are the only people on Giuliani’s long list of creditors whose case against him has been resolved with a judgment.
Multiple other lawsuits were automatically put on ice after Giuliani filed for bankruptcy protection, including cases brought by Hunter Biden, a fired Staten Island supermarket worker, two voting machine companies, and Giuliani’s former assistant, Noelle Dunphy, who has accused him of sexual assault and harassment. Giuliani also owes money to several law firms, the IRS and New York tax authorities, according to court papers.
“Ms. Dunphy intends to pursue her case aggressively, and we look forward to the day when we can present this case to a jury,” Dunphy’s lawyer, Justin Kelton, said in a statement to The New York Daily News.
Lawyer Ron Kuby, who represents former ShopRite worker Daniel Gill in his lawsuit against Giuliani alleging Giuliani framed Gill for assault, said he would fight to the bitter end.
“We’ll ultimately proceed to trial and hopefully judgment against Giuliani. We do recognize that there won’t be much, if anything, left by the time we get there, but that’s OK. I like coffee,” Kuby said in a quip alluding to Giuliani’s coffee brand, “Rudy Coffee.”
The cash-strapped former mayor, who lost his law license last week, may ultimately end up submerged in half a billion dollars in debt, according to the estimate he provided when he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December. He listed between $1 million and $10 million in assets, mostly tied up in his two properties.
The laundry list of lawsuits will play out alongside Giuliani’s criminal case in Georgia, where he’s facing racketeering charges — like those he helped pioneer in the 1980s — alongside Donald Trump and 17 others for allegedly plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. He also faces charges in Arizona alleging he worked to reverse the results of the 2020 election in that state.
Giuliani has pleaded not guilty in both cases. He could not be reached for comment.
