Disgraced legal professional and fixer Mark Nussbaum is popping towards his former pal and deal associate as collectors search to gather greater than $400 million in lacking escrow funds.
Sheldon Eisenberger, an legal professional dealing with the wind-down and liquidation of Nussbaum’s former legislation corporations, has launched a lawsuit towards nursing dwelling entrepreneur and Nussbaum’s former pal Tzali Chopp of Opal Healthcare.
The lawsuit filed within the Southern District of New York alleges Chopp didn’t pay again a $3 million mortgage from Nussbaum. Eisenberger now alleges Chopp owes $6.3 million with curiosity.
Whatsapp messages between Nussbaum and Chopp included within the lawsuit provide a uncommon window into Nussbaum’s business. Nussbaum has admitted to working a Ponzi scheme along with his affiliate Mendel Steiner. A part of the scheme concerned utilizing Nussbaum’s escrow funds to lend cash to actual property dealmakers as short-term loans.
The messages illustrate Nussbaum’s nonchalance when it got here to extending loans or making investments. Some messages present that Nussbaum lent cash first and requested questions later.
[6/8/22, 12:21:44 PM] Tzally Chopp: I wanted initially 3.5 u gave me like 2.3 want one other million and I’m good
[6/8/22, 12:22:44 PM] Mark Nussbaaum: undecided i can do one other MM, and i want to know how cash coming again, and many others., can we converse at 2?
Others present that Chopp seems to request proof of funds for his firm, Opal Healthcare, in an unrelated deal. (Nussbaum used a tactic referred to as present capital the place he would supply brief time period loans to make debtors look capitalized).
[8/11/22, 1:42:55 PM] Tzally Chopp: Please ship me letter saying opal Hcs has 15M
for working ty if this works I make loopy cash
[8/11/22, 1:46:04 PM] Nussbaum: and you’ll do not forget that i helped you so i could make some loopy cash additionally, sure?
Nussbaum diverted about $336 million of his shoppers’ escrow cash via to late Brooklyn-based investor Mendel Steiner who allegedly moved cash via his shell firms and his household, lawsuits allege.
However tens of thousands and thousands went to other real estate dealmakers, together with Boruch Drillman, Shaya Prager and Mark Meisner, often as loans or most well-liked fairness. Eisenberger is tasked with accumulating on these excellent money owed in an effort to assist pay the collectors again.
Gathering from these debtors will probably be a problem given Nussbaum’s penchant for handshake offers and lack of formal file protecting.
As an illustration, Chopp’s attorneys allege the $3 million in alleged loans which Eisenberger seeks to gather on are usurious and unenforceable. Chopp’s attorneys, who declined to remark, allege the curiosity on the loans amounted to 35.7 p.c of the alleged principal mortgage account, which is past the authorized restrict of 25 p.c.
Eisenberger, who is named the assignee within the course of, “is unable to problem this primary math, so as an alternative presents inadmissible testimony from the disgraced and now indicted legal professional Mark Nussbaum,” Chopp’s attorneys declare in a authorized submitting.
In response Eisenberger’s workforce denies the loans have been usurious. Eisenberger alleges Chopp made a $120,000 fee on the loans, which particularly went to paying accrued curiosity.
To additional assist their argument, Eisenberger’s authorized workforce included a press release from Nussbaum.
Nussbaum mentioned he met Chopp at his home in Suffern, New York in 2022 and reached an settlement to supply as much as $3 million revolving line of credit score to Chopp via 4 transactions at a 2 p.c month-to-month fee.
Nussbaum claims he made the loans to Chopp via numerous accounts. This included $1 million from a Nussbaum Lowinger checking account to Opal Healthcare WI, a nursing dwelling enterprise in Wisconsin managed by Chopp. (Opal Holdings’ Shaya Prager, recognized for his controversial floor lease construction, has ties to the enterprise as properly, primarily based on lawsuits and public data).
The WhatsApp messages between Nussbaum and Chopp clearly present the 2 establishing conferences at Nussbaum’s home and different areas.
[8/18/24, 12:18:17 PM] Nussbaum: When can we converse. Comfortable to fulfill additionally. Have to get comfy with September.
[8/19/24, 11:08:15 AM] Nussbaum: lmk pls
[8/19/24, 11:08:53 AM] Tzally Chopp: Meet Friday in Monsey on the way in which as much as Catskills
[8/19/24, 11:09:02 AM] Nussbaum: DEAL! 🙂
[8/19/24, 11:09:08 AM] Tzally Chopp: Ty
[8/19/24, 11:09:16 AM] Nussbaum: lmk when, respect, miss u anyway, been too lengthy
AND pls carry tefilin! 🙂
[8/23/24, 8:27:10 AM] Nussbaum: Lmk after we assembly. Ty
[8/24/24, 9:03:20 PM] Nussbaum: Gv. My ppl are asking how the assembly went. I ready
them for September. They ask that I get extra information and ensure. And now after telling
them I’m assembly you Friday I seem like an ass. And now they asking me how the
assembly went
Nussbaum continued to achieve out to Chopp a couple of “debt” all through 2024, carrying on their chummy rapport.
[9/17/24, 3:56:33 PM] Nussbaum: How we wanting?
[9/18/24, 6:32:19 PM] Nussbaum: Lmk
[9/19/24, 3:00:54 PM] Nussbaum: discuss to me bro
[9/19/24, 3:03:20 PM] Tzally Chopp: Wanting good name u tomorrow
[9/19/24, 3:03:33 PM] Nussbaum: ty bHHHHH
[9/23/24, 8:49:07 AM] Nussbaum: When can we converse?
Just some months later, Nussbaum and Steiner’s alleged Ponzi scheme began to unravel as Nussbaum confronted a gaping deficit owed to his escrow shoppers. Nussbaum shut down his legislation agency Nussbaum Lowinger in January 2025 days after Steiner died by suicide in a Manhattan lodge room. In Could, the Manhattan District Legal professional indicted Nussbaum alleging he stole over $15 million from shoppers’ escrow accounts. Nussbaum has pleaded not responsible. His subsequent courtroom date is scheduled for March 3.
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