Opinion ID: 73339
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Real Estate Holdings

Text: The testimony at trial linked Brand to two properties in New York that were sold for millions of dollars after the entry of the state court order. In 1989, Brand purchased property at 16 East 78th Street in New York City for $2.3 million. He then made capital improvements on the property, raising its value to $2.76 million. Approximately two years after the purchase, Brand sold this property to Fresh Image, Inc. for $950,000. At that time, one of the officers of Fresh Image was Alexander Curtis. Curtis would later become the administrator of Audio Marketing, Brand's distributorship, which also eventually occupied the ground floor of the building at 16 East 78th Street. Philip Disque, a certified public accountant who had previously been retained to assess Brand's financial situation in 1989 and 1992, testified that Brand's sale of this property at a loss of $1.8 million to Curtis, a business acquaintance, was questionable. Disque opined that Brand had 6 Brand's nickname is Avi. engineered this sale to retain control of the property. Jessica Rohm, a real estate broker, testified that she went to see the 16 East 78th Street property in 1993 (about two years after Brand sold it to Fresh Image). At that time, she met Brand, who said he was representing the owner. Rohm represented a group of Brazilian investors who ultimately purchased the property for $2.06 million in May of 1993. Rohm testified that the property yielded annual rental income of $200,000. Prior to the sale, Brand was the only person [Rohm] ever had any contact with and the only person she negotiate[d] with. At the closing, Curtis was present on behalf of the seller, Fresh Image. Brand was also present and surrendered Audio Marketing's leasehold interest in the property. Rohm characterized Brand as an interested party who was involved in the closing. In the fall of 1994, Brand called Rohm and told her I have another property for sale. He inquired about whether the Brazilian investors would be interested. Brand informed Rohm that a corporation owned this particular property and that she shouldn't let anybody know that he [Brand] [was] involved with the property. Brand showed Rohm the building, which was located at 22 East 78th Street-very close to the one previously sold. Brand negotiated the sale price with Rohm, and the property was ultimately sold in September of 1995 for $1.318 million. Rohm testified that the building at 22 East 78th Street had a single tenant. Brand told Rohm that we had given the tenant $100,000 so that she would vacate the premises before the closing. Annibale, Brand's former business partner, also testified that Brand had spoken of a townhouse that he owned that had one tenant. Brand told Annibale that the townhouse was located in New York on 78th Street. Brand and Rohm informally discussed other real estate deals while they were negotiating the sale of the 22 East 78th Street property. Brand said that he wanted to offer another property for sale that was on Long Island. He also expressed an interest in buying an apartment at Trump Tower or Olympic Tower for around $1 million.