Billionaire tycoon Charles Cohen faces losing mansions, yachts and 25 supercars in embarrassing debt drama
Charles Cohen, 73, has seen authorities in France seize high-value artworks, luxury decor and his prized collection of fine wines, with his assets in the US now under the same threat.
Cohen, who boasts a net worth of almost $2 billion, is being sued by Fortress Investment Group over a $535 million loan it made to his property firm, Cohen Realty Enterprises, in 2022.
As collateral on the loan, Cohen listed his office tower on Manhattan's Lexington Avenue, the Le Méridien Dania Beach hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and four other properties, according to court records reported by the Wall Street Journal.
But Cohen also personally guaranteed $187.2 million of the loan, which has allowed Fortress to now go after the billionaire's array of luxury assets.
Cohen's business defaulted last year, but Fortress said that the value of his collateral did not meet his debts, and court records cited by the Journal showed he is at risk of losing his homes in New York, Connecticut, and Provence, France.
Fortress is also reportedly going after his 25 luxury supercars, which includes two Ferraris, and five yachts.
Cohen is facing allegations that he transferred ownership of his assets to family members in an attempt to avoid paying his mounting debts, which he denied.
Once one of the most powerful real estate moguls in Manhattan, Cohen saw his fortunes sour in the pandemic.
Lockdowns sent demand for office spaces through the floor, and Cohen's string of movie theatres that he owns were upended as people could no longer go to see blockbusters in person.
Cohen notably won an Oscar in 2017 as his production company, Cohen Media Group, distributed The Salesman, which won best foreign-language film.
As many property tycoons gave up their skyscrapers and office buildings to lenders, Cohen kept hold of many as he said he felt personally attached to them as they had been in his family for decades, ever since his father and two uncles started their property empire that Cohen would later take over.
This led him to reach a restructuring plan with Fortress that included the personal guarantee of almost $200 million, a decision that has now landed scrutiny on his lavish assets.
Cohen has launched a countersuit against Fortress, beginning a battle with the investment group in what the Journal described as 'one of the nastiest in commercial real estate for many years.'
Earlier this month, a judge in Italy ruled that one of Cohen's yachts, a 220-foot, $49.6 million vessel, couldn't leave the Port of Loano without approval from the court.
The yacht is one of five of Cohen's boats that Fortress is trying to seize, but court records reportedly showed that he transferred ownership to his wife, Clo Jacobs, last year.
Jacobs worked as the public relations and marketing director of the American division of luxury designer Jimmy Choo, according to a New York Times report on their wedding in 2004.
According to Fortress, he also did the same with his $20 million mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut, and the Château de Chausse estate in France.
Late last year, French authorities raided the Château de Chausse, a sprawling 138-acre mansion with a vineyard in France's Provence region.
Under orders from a French court, debt collectors seized hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of Cohen's personal belongings including his prized fine wine collection on behalf of Fortress.
After being accused of trying to avoid this fate by transferring ownership to his wife, Cohen denied these claims and said they were legitimate moves for tax-planning purposes.
He told the Journal that he is in the process of selling some of his vast array of properties to pay his debts to Fortress, but needs more time to complete the deals.
In a deposition in February, he reportedly complained to the court about Fortress' attempts to seize his assets, saying they 'keep pecking at us, like a bird would peck at something... Enough was never enough.'
Cohen also listed the Le Méridien Dania Beach hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, (pictured) and four other properties
Christopher Caffarone, Cohen's attorney, says that Fortress' aggressive actions have seen the billionaire unable to withdraw money from his personal accounts without approval from Fortress, alongside restrictions to brokerage accounts held by Cohen, his mother and his sister.
'His family's lives are being disrupted,' Caffarone said earlier this year at a court hearing. 'They are getting subpoenaed. They are getting deposed.'
Fortress argued that it is going after Cohen's family members because he transferred personal assets to them, and said in court records that it 'is left with no choice but to begin enforcing its judgment against Cohen's assets.'
With his vast empire now at risk, Cohen says he is not afraid of losing his reputation as one of the property world's big hitters.
'I've always been good at hanging on,' he told the Journal.
'That's what we've always done, and we will continue to do that.'
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