The champion boxer accuses his former investment manager of defrauding him out of tens of millions of dollars at a time in a series of unauthorized transactions.
MANHATTAN (CN) – Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. filed a civil complaint Friday afternoon against a disgraced former New York City energy broker for defrauding him of $175 million while working briefly as the undefeated champion’s investment portfolio manager.
Mayweather accuses Jona Rechnitz, his de facto investment manager, real estate advisor and bank liaison in recent years, of financial fraud and breach of fiduciary duty by secretly diverting a large portion of his assets to First Apex Ventures, a Florida real estate and investment firm managed by Ayal Frist as a protégé3 complaint.
In the seven-count complaint filed in Manhattan state court, Mayweather says he first met Rechnitz in 2017 and that Rechnitz portrayed himself as “a sophisticated real estate investor” as he built a personal and business relationship with the boxer.
Mayweather, 49, says he was unaware at the time that Rechnitz had been a key figure and cooperating witness in the federal bribery trial of Correctional Officers Benevolent Association former president Norman Seabrook.
Represented by attorney Leo Jacobs, the complaint includes multiple allegations of fraud, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion and accounting.
Among the examples of financial mismanagement outlined in the complaint, Rechnitz and other co-defendants are accused of making unauthorized transfers of Mayweather’s money to First Apex, including directing $15 million in settlement proceeds from a real estate company to the firm.
Mayweather also alleges that Rechnitz arranged a wire transfer of $7.5 million to First Apex on July 1, 2024, for a 12-month investment that never materialized and for which the funds were never returned.
The complaint also challenges a separate loan transaction involving more than $8.8 million tied to a $16.4 million cross-collateralized loan secured by four Mayweather properties, with funds sent to First Apex without explanation.
Mayweather further says Rechnitz promised the boxer’s jewelry worth about $100 million to two Miami-based jewelers in exchange for just $13 million, less than 14% of their value.
“A significant portion of the pawned jewelry” remains with Miami jewelers Joel Vigo and Moti, according to the complaint.
Separately, Mayweather says Rechnitz diverted a $1 million deposit intended to buy a Midtown Manhattan property on Sixth Avenue in the Diamond District last year to pay a jeweler in New York City, causing the deal to collapse.
Mayweather is no stranger to litigation. According to the Courthouse News database, he has been sued dozens of times across the country on a variety of claims. He has also faced domestic violence charges, received suspended sentences three times and served prison time at least once.
Rechnitz testified in 2017 against former corrections officers’ union president Norman Seabrook and co-defendant Murray Huberfeld at trial in the Southern District of New York as part of a 2016 plea deal in which he admitted trying to bribe them, as well as against then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and officials New York City police chief.
Rechnitz received immunity as part of the deal for his involvement in two Ponzi schemes, defrauding a medical insurer and lying on government forms to obtain a gun license.
During the six days of testimony in The Seabrook trialRechnitz told a jury that he bought favors from Mayor Bill de Blasio for a bundled $100,000 campaign donation, and he led top police officers on a private jet to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl with a prostitute.
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