A former vice president in Vornado Realty Trust’s vaunted leasing office has been charged with stealing millions of dollars from the company, one of New York’s biggest commercial landlords.
Jared Solomon was indicted by prosecutors from the U.S. Southern District’s office in December on one count each of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, court records show. According to the indictment, the VP devised a scheme to defraud an unidentified “Victim Company 1” between 2009 and 2023.
Details of the alleged fraud in the charging documents were scant, but a source familiar with the allegations told The Real Deal that it has to do with Vornado’s Times Square signage business.
Vornado touts itself as “the largest developer and owner of advertising signage in Manhattan, including in two of the highest foot traffic corridors in the United States – THE PENN DISTRICT and Times Square – where the world’s largest 4k LED sign can be seen at 1535 Broadway,” according to its website.
If found guilty, Solomon faces up to 20 years in prison and will have to pay the millions he allegedly stole.
“The government is alleging that the restitution, if he is found guilty in this case, will be over $9-1/2 million,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Margulies said at a December 4 hearing, according to the transcript.
Solomon pleaded not guilty at the hearing, but in the following months his attorney and federal prosecutors told the court they had reached an agreement in principle to change his position and plead guilty to the fraud charge.
Afterward, however, Solomon switched attorneys, and his new lawyers said they needed time to review the case. They are scheduled to file their motions on June 27.
Solomon was released on a $250,000 bail and allowed to go on a previously scheduled family vacation to the Caribbean in late December. Solomon and his attorneys did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did a spokesperson for Vornado.
Vornado listed Solomon’s name as part of its “New York leasing machine” for several years in its annual reports up until 2022. He appears to have done a brief stint as a broker at Newmark afterward.
Prosecutors asked the court to order Solomon, if found guilty, to forfeit all property “that constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to the commission of said offense.”
That allegedly includes a Westchester home at 3 Beverly Road in Purchase, New York (which records show Solomon bought for $4.55 million in 2023), and a co-op apartment at 23 East 74th Street ($3.95 million in 2020, per StreetEasy), as well as money in Solomon’s bank account.
The high-priced homes had raised some suspicions among Solomon’s co-workers, according to people familiar with him, who had wondered how he could afford such expensive real estate on his salary.
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