Bankruptcy Judge Mulls Trustee for Giuliani’s Finances

(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

A judge heard arguments Monday in Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy hearing and is weighing whether to strip America’s mayor of his finances and appoint a watchdog to oversee them.

Creditors took aim at Giuliani during Monday’s hearing in White Plains, New York, accusing him of a range of sins that ranged from “dishonesty” and “gross incompetence” to outright “bankruptcy crimes” before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane, Law & Crime reported.

Lane didn’t render a decision before adjourning the hearing but said “there are reasons to be very concerned here.” At the top of the list for Lane is that Giuliani can’t keep a bookkeeper or accountant, calling it a “troubling fact.”

The hearing came in the aftermath of Giuliani’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December following a $148 million verdict in favor of two Georgia election workers in their defamation lawsuit against him. Lawyers for them and other creditors want Lane to appoint a trustee to oversee Giuliani’s finances, while the former mayor’s legal team argued that they need to be able to appeal that $148 million judgment.

The creditors’ lawyers accused Giuliani of funneling funds to his “alter ego LLC” Giuliani Communications, “using his business as a personal piggy bank, which is fraudulent.”

Further, creditors accuse Giuliani of “dishonesty,” “incompetence,” “gross mismanagement,” “inadequate record-keeping and reporting,” among other financial sins.

“He’s not a doddering 80-year-old. He is a shrewd and manipulative man. His reports are false, inconsistent and late. His deadlines are ignored,” Rachel Strickland, the election workers’ attorney, told Lane on Monday.

Regarding a bookkeeper who is ill and an accountant who quit, Strickland said, “Those are huge red flags that warrant that adult supervision.”

Giuliani’s attorney, Gary Fischoff, told Lane the former mayor has been “slow to adapt” to financial reporting standards.

“Unfortunately, it is taking the debtor some time,” Fischoff said.

Lane set the next hearing for July 10.

Giuliani was on Zoom for the hearing.