A New York judge dismissed Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy proceedings on Friday, allowing creditors, including two former Georgia election workers that he was found to have defamed, to pursue and potentially seize his assets.
The former mayor of New York City, who represented former president Donald Trump in cases related to the 2020 election, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December after a federal jury awarded Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss $148 million in compensatory and punitive damages from Giuliani. Now that he is no longer entitled to bankruptcy protection, his numerous creditors can collect on the more than $150 million they are owed.
In Friday’s 22-page opinion, Judge Sean Lane wrote that Giuliani hadn’t been completely transparent about his finances after filing for bankruptcy late last year. Giuliani’s creditors claim he used the bankruptcy case to hide details about his assets and avoid paying the pair of former election workers for defamation.
“Mr. Giuliani has failed to provide an accurate and complete picture of his financial affairs in the six months that this case has been pending,” Lane wrote in his decision. “The lack of financial transparency is particularly troubling given concerns that Mr. Giuliani has engaged in self-dealing and that he has potential conflicts of interest that would hamper the administration of his bankruptcy case.”
The judge cited Giuliani’s lack of explanation for his upcoming book contract as an example of such self-dealing. He is also expected to make money from a coffee sponsorship deal marketed with his name and image, among other ventures.
The former mayor has listed about $11 million in assets, including a $5.6 million apartment in New York City and a $3.5 million condo in Palm Beach, Fla. He put his New York apartment on the market but has so far resisted attempts to sell his Florida home. The latter property’s forced sale could make its owner “join the ranks of the homeless,” his lawyer warned.
Freeman and Moss are expected to seek liens on those properties within the coming days, their lawyers said.
Giuliani’s reported debt amounts to roughly $153 million to at least 20 people and businesses, including $3.7 million in unpaid legal fees to three law firms and more than $1 million in state and federal taxes.
Giuliani spokesman Ted Goodman cast the judge’s decision as “yet another example of the effort to punish” Giuliani, once known as “America’s Mayor.”
“We will continue to pursue justice and we are confident that—in the long run—our system of justice will be restored and the mayor will be totally vindicated,” Goodman said.
The embattled Republican figure has been punished in recent months related to his alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election. Just last week, Giuliani was formally disbarred from his law practice in New York for making false statements about the election results on behalf of Trump. He also faces similar proceedings in Washington, D.C., where a bar disciplinary committee recommended his disbarment last year.
Moreover, Giuliani is fighting two criminal indictments in Arizona and Georgia for allegedly interfering in the 2020 election. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.