Eddie Sitt defaults on Safra Bank mortgage payments for second time: lawsuit

Safra National Bank of New York is taking Sitt Asset Management co-founder Eddie Sitt to court for a second time after he allegedly defaulted on $4.3 million in mortgage payments for his Brooklyn home.

The bank, led by billionaire Joseph Safra, first filed suit against Sitt and his wife Carolyn last year after the couple fell two weeks behind on a mortgage payment on their Gravesend abode. Although the parties reached a settlement in September, which dismissed the case and reduced the principal amount owed on two mortgages, the bank claims Sitt has defaulted again.

In the suit filed on Thursday, Safra National Bank claimed it only received a partial payment of $15,000 in December, and exercised its option to declare the entire sum of $4.3 million due, with accrued interest from February.

Sitt’s lawyer, Joseph Lipari of the Sultzer Law Group, told The Real Deal in April that the suit was retaliation for Eddie having named the bank as a party in a complaint against his brother Ralph Sitt. Eddie claims Ralph made deals with the Safra family on behalf of the Sitt family firm, Sitt Asset Leasing, without his consent.

Eddie ultimately removed Safra’s name in an amended complaint, and a judge dismissed the case in December, although Eddie said he planned to re-file a case against his brother Ralph and David for allegedly stealing his share of the family business.

Eddie said Safra would withdraw its most recent suit, but an attorney and representative for the bank was not available for comment.

Last year, TRD chronicled the litigation between the feuding Sitt brothers.