C&W Reaches Deal To Produce Appraisal Documents, Avoid Contempt Fines
Cushman & Wakefield said it has struck a deal to provide the documents that landed it in contempt of court in New York.
The brokerage has agreed to turn over documents requested by New York Attorney General Letitia James by Wednesday, a company spokesperson said in a statement after a court hearing last week.
An interim stay on the contempt order was issued by the Supreme Court of the State of New York on Friday, a representative for Cushman said. It had been the subject of a subpoena from James' office, which a state judge ruled Cushman hadn't fully complied with as of last week.
Lawyers at the Office of the Attorney General had written to Judge Arthur Engoron earlier this month after the brokerage missed the deadline to turn over documents it had subpoenaed. Last Wednesday, Engoron found Cushman in contempt, issuing a $10K a day fine until it produced the documents. Cushman appealed the ruling a day later.
But on Friday, James’ office agreed not to collect any fines as long as the documents are produced by this Wednesday.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with the OAG that relates to an interim stay of the Contempt ruling,” Cushman & Wakefield said in a statement through a spokesperson. “Since the beginning of the New York Attorney General’s investigation in 2019, Cushman & Wakefield has endeavored to cooperate with the OAG’s investigation, responding to multiple document subpoenas and eight testimony subpoenas.”
The company is continuing to “work to produce the documents” by the new deadline: Wednesday, July 13, per the statement.
James' lawsuit, which names former President Donald Trump and his three eldest children as defendants, claims the Trump family business artificially inflated and deflated the value of its properties to lower tax bills and get better terms on loans.
Before it publicly ended its association with The Trump Organization in the fallout of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, Cushman & Wakefield handled appraisals for several Trump properties at the core of James' investigation, including 40 Wall St. in Manhattan and the Seven Springs estate in Westchester County in New York.
