Nir Meir is heading back to jail and in need of a new lawyer.
Meir, a former top executive of New York City real estate development firm HFZ Capital Group, was ordered back to jail on May 16 by a Manhattan judge.
Meir had just managed to get out of Rikers a few weeks ago after spending a year there. He had been unable to pay his bail after the Manhattan D.A.’s office charged the developer with masterminding a $86 million fraud scheme that involved moving money out of HFZ’s high-profile condo projects, including the XI on the High Line. Meir was also accused of defrauding the city out of $15 million in taxes.
Prosecutors had agreed to reduce Meir’s bail and place him in 24-hour home confinement. As part of his release, Meir had to wear two ankle monitors, one from the New York City Sheriff and the other from his bail bond agency. Meir was living in an unknown apartment in New York City under those conditions.
But at the end of last week, Judge Ann Thompson ordered Meir back to Rikers. It is unclear if Meir violated the terms of the bond. Meir’s cash bail remains at $5 million, and his fully and partially secured bond is at $7.5 million, according to the D.A.’s office.
Meir’s bail was exonerated, not forfeited, meaning the property or money put up for his release will not be lost.
Meir seems to be obtaining a new attorney. Meir is scheduled for an “attorney assignment” on May 23 under the court docket, and his attorney told The Real Deal that the two have parted ways.
“I am proud to have zealously represented Mr. Nir Meir by successfully saving him tens of millions of dollars by reducing his bail and obtaining his freedom,” said Oliver Storch, who represented Meir for the past year, in a statement. “Mr. Meir has not plead guilty to any crime and his presumption of innocence remains intact. I have now parted ways with Mr. Meir and wish him the best of luck.”
Storch’s departure is a major development in Meir’s case.
Meir was fired from HFZ in late 2020. His former boss, HFZ Chairman Ziel Feldman, alleged Meir illegally charged personal expenditures to HFZ, including $10,000 weekly sushi dinner parties, siphoning millions of dollars from the company.
Meir spent the next two years fighting lawsuits while dropping millions of dollars on gold, strip clubs, expensive wine and hotel stays, in addition to a $150,000-a-month rental in Miami Beach. Despite the large expenditures, Meir claimed he was broke and the money came from his ex-wife, Ranee Bartolacci.
Meir was arrested in February 2024 at the 1 Hotel South Beach residences in Miami Beach. He was extradited to New York City and subsequently held in Rikers.
Meir showed up to his first court appearance in Manhattan with a court-appointed attorney. The D.A. argued Meir defrauded lenders, investors and forged documents and should be denied bail.
Meir spoke on his own behalf, claiming he had been an “upstanding citizen” all his life and asked to be released from Rikers. Meir denied the allegations, claiming he was working in New York City to provide for his family. But Meir also claimed he was broke and had recently filed for bankruptcy.
Meir retained Storch after the first appearance; the defense attorney argued that Meir’s initial bail was too high and was not a flight risk. He sought to have Meir released to an alternative to incarceration program.
Prosecutors initially argued against a bail reduction, with Assistant District Attorney Christopher Beard stating at a July hearing that “the defendant shows that he has a loose connection to telling the truth.”
Meanwhile, others charged by the D.A. in the alleged fraud scheme started pleading guilty.
Earlier this year, HFZ’s former head of construction Anthony Marrone pleaded guilty to one count of attempted grand larceny in the third degree and 14 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. He was sentenced to probation.
A former project manager of Omnibuild, a contractor for HFZ’s XI project, also pleaded guilty for his role in a kickback scheme at the XI. Prosecutors promised Galifi a sentence of three years’ probation, including 90 days of home confinement.
Former Omnibuild CEO John Mingione has continued to fight the prosecutor’s charges of grand larceny, claiming he is a victim of Meir and HFZ’s bad acts.
In March, Meir was finally released from Rikers with a $1 million fully secured bond. Meir was only permitted to leave his home for court appearances and pre-approved attorney visits.
Now, Meir will have a new attorney with visits behind bars.
This story is developing.
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