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A former commercial real estate executive has been convicted at trial of a long-running fraud scheme that prosecutors say financed a luxury lifestyle — including the purchase of an Upper East Side apartment.
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Jared Solomon, 48, a former vice president of leasing at Vornado Realty Trust, was found guilty of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and two counts of bank fraud following a one-week jury trial before U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska in Manhattan federal court.Federal prosecutors allege the scheme ran for roughly 14 years and netted Solomon approximately $9.5 million, which he used in part to buy a $3.6 million co-op at 23 East 74th Street, between Fifth and Madison avenues, according to The Real Deal. The full-service building comes with a doorman and was previously a hotel, according to Streeteasy, which also notes that it “was home to notable artists like Dorothy Parker.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Solomon began the scheme in 2009 while working as a Vornado leasing agent. Over the following years, he created fake commercial real estate broker companies and submitted invoices to his employer claiming that brokers were owed fees or construction reimbursement expenses on deals he worked on. No such work had been performed, and the payments were routed to bank accounts Solomon controlled in the names of the sham businesses.
Solomon also forged the signatures of real people on the fake agreements submitted to Vornado, according to prosecutors. To open a business bank account, he provided a fraudulent business certificate, and to secure an $850,000 mortgage loan, he submitted false information and a doctored bank statement to a mortgage lender.
Beyond the Upper East Side co-op, prosecutors said Solomon used the fraud proceeds to purchase a $4.5 million house in Purchase, New York, a country club membership, and a Porsche.
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“Jared Solomon engaged in a decade-long scheme to defraud his former employer of over $9.5 million,” Deputy U.S. Attorney Sean S. Buckley said in a statement announcing the conviction. Buckley said Solomon concealed his identity behind forged signatures and sham businesses set up to receive the payments.The wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The aggravated identity theft count carries a mandatory consecutive two-year sentence, and each bank fraud count carries a maximum of 30 years. Any sentence will be determined by the judge.
Sentencing is scheduled for August 4, 2026.
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