Rudy Giuliani, the one once respected Former New York mayor who represented former President Donald Trump in his ill-fated attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, filed for bankruptcy after a jury in Washington returned a verdict of $148 million against him for defaming two former Georgia election workers.
The bankruptcy filing in New York came after a court ordered that Giuliani must immediately pay $146 million of what he owes to former election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss.
Giuliani spokesman Ted Goodman said in a statement that the bankruptcy filing “should not come as a surprise to anyone.”
“No one could have reasonably believed that Mayor Rudy Giuliani would be able to pay such a large punitive amount,” Goodman said. “Chapter 11 will provide Mayor Giuliani the opportunity and time to file an appeal, while also providing transparency to his finances under the supervision of the bankruptcy court, to ensure that all creditors are treated equally and fairly throughout the process. “.
Michael Gottlieb, an attorney for the mother and daughter, former election workers, said: “This move is not surprising and will not settle Mr. Giuliani’s debt to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.”
The presentation It lists Giuliani’s assets as between $1 million and $10 million and puts his total current debt at $151 million, including about $1 million owed in back taxes. He also noted that he has other lawsuits pending against him and put his total estimated liabilities at between $100 million and $500 million.
The bankruptcy case was assigned to Judge Sean H. Lane, who, like Giuliani, was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
By filing a voluntary Chapter 11 petition, Giuliani will gain protection of creditors under the “automatic stay” feature of federal bankruptcy law, which, with some exceptions, stops ongoing litigation as well as the execution of pre-existing judgments. If the ruling withstood any possible appeal, Giuliani would not be able to eliminate his debt to Freeman and Moss. Damages resulting from defamation cannot be removed in bankruptcy.
The judge presiding over Freeman and Moss’s defamation case on Wednesday lifted a 30-day pause in ruling after the mother and daughter said they were concerned he would try to hide their assets.
“Giuliani’s failure to ‘satisfy the even more modest monetary awards previously awarded in this case’ provides good cause to believe that he will seek to dissipate or conceal his assets during the 30-day period,” wrote U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in your order.
The decision allows Freeman and Moss to pursue Giuliani’s assets in New York and Florida.
An eight-person jury in Washington, DC, awarded initially to Freeman and Moss more than $148 million in damages last week after the judge found Giuliani responsible of repeatedly defaming them by falsely accusing them of carrying out voter fraud in Georgia during the 2020 presidential election. In his order Wednesday, Howell reduced the verdict by approximately $2 million to reflect the damages that both rreceived in an agreement last year with the other defendant in the case, the OAN television network.
This is a developing story. Please check for updates.
See the article in English from NBC news here.
2023-12-21 21:05:13
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