In a last-minute deal, Rudy Giuliani agreed this week to pay roughly $400,000 to a financial adviser that his creditors hired, which will essentially end his personal bankruptcy case.
A federal judge had threatened to closely scrutinize all of Giuliani’s finances if the one-time personal lawyer for former President Donald Trump didn’t agree to this deal.
On Wednesday, the agreement was filed in federal court in New York. It comes almost three weeks after a judge in White Plains threw out the bankruptcy case, criticizing Giuliani in the process for repeatedly failing to disclose his sources of income and to comply with orders the court issued.
Following the dismissal of the bankruptcy case by Judge Sean Lane, the lawyers representing Giuliani in the case said their client didn’t have money to pay the forensic financial adviser that was appointed on behalf of his creditors, and which was required under state bankruptcy laws.
As such, Lane ordered that all parties had to submit a proposal on how the case could be put to a close by noon on Wednesday. If no deal was able to be reached, the judge said they should all prepare to participate in an evidentiary hearing that would dive deeper into the former New York City mayor’s finances.
Only about three hours before that deadline, though, the agreement was filed with the court. It still needs the judge’s signature to be finalized.
Creditors in the case include Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and Ruby Freeman, two former election workers in Georgia who won a defamation judgment worth $148 million against Giuliani for him spreading false claims about them in relation to the 2020 presidential election.
The workers argued that Giuliani pushed Trump’s lies about election fraud, which resulted in them fearing for their lives because they received death threats.
According to the agreement, Giuliani will pay $100,000 to his lawyers, which is to help pay for the financial adviser, Global Data Risk of New York. He also will pay the remainder of the expenses from proceeds that come from either selling his condominium in Florida or his apartment in New York City.
According to court documents, those properties are worth $3.5 million and $5.6 million, respectively.
As per the agreement, Global Data Risk will have the power to place liens on both of those properties to ensure that Giuliani pays all the fees it charges.
In a court filing earlier this week, attorney Rachel Strickland, who’s representing Moss and Freeman, said that during the case, Global Data Risk racked up a whopping $400,000 in expenses.
In an order he issued on July 25, Lane said it was “troubling” that Giuliani was claiming he wasn’t able to pay the firm. As the judge wrote:
“Even assuming that the Debtor does not have the funds on hand to immediately pay these bankruptcy expenses, he certainly has considerable assets upon which he can draw to pay such expenses.”
