Jared Solomon, once a rising vice president of leasing at Vornado Realty Trust, was in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday as jury selection kicked off in his embezzlement trial. Prosecutors say he siphoned more than $9.5 million from the real estate giant, with the case unfolding at the Southern District courthouse at 500 Pearl Street in a trial expected to last about two weeks.
In opening statements, federal prosecutors told jurors they plan to show that Solomon quietly set up sham brokerages, used fake emails and burner phones to hide that he was secretly on the other side of deals, and sent in invoices that steered company money into accounts he controlled. They say the proceeds went toward a Westchester house, an Upper East Side co‑op, a Porsche and a country‑club membership, arguing he "stole to fund a lifestyle he had not earned," as reported by The Real Deal.
Solomon, 48, was arrested in December 2024 and has pleaded not guilty to federal counts that include wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and two counts of bank fraud, according to CourtListener. The indictment traces the alleged scheme back to 2009 and says it continued through 2023, and the filings spell out the government’s push for restitution and forfeiture tied to properties prosecutors say were bought with the misappropriated funds.
Defense attorney Peter Toumbekis told jurors that the brokerages were legitimate and that Solomon did real brokerage work, casting the conflict as a business dispute over commissions instead of a criminal plot. "They're real companies," Toumbekis said in court, according to The Real Deal.
How prosecutors say the scheme worked
According to prosecutors, Solomon created entities with names like Margoux Media and Cobalt Advisors, then copied a company executive's signature onto fabricated agreements and sent in bogus invoices to trigger payments from Vornado. Much of the alleged activity centers on Vornado’s digital‑signage and leasing operations in Times Square, based on reporting and court records cited by Bisnow.
What's at stake
If convicted, Solomon faces as much as 20 years in prison, along with potential criminal fines and restitution, and prosecutors have already signaled they will seek forfeiture of real estate and cash allegedly bought with the scheme’s proceeds. The U.S. Attorney’s Office told the court it plans to call Solomon’s former supervisor and outside brokers to the stand to connect specific payments to what they say was fraud, according to CourtListener.
Vornado highlights signage and street retail as core parts of its Manhattan portfolio and touts its signage assets as reaching more than a million pedestrian impressions a day, which helps explain why its Times Square operation features prominently in the filings. For more context on the business unit at the heart of the case, see Vornado Realty Trust.
Jurors now have two sharply different stories to sort through: a government narrative of a long‑running fraud versus a defense portrayal of legitimate brokerage work gone sour in a commercial dispute. Testimony and documents over the next couple of weeks will decide whether Solomon walks out with a conviction, a deal or an acquittal.
