Rahmani cousins settle messy family lawsuit over brokerage commissions

Joseph and Daniel Rahmani have resolved their dispute with Ebi Khalili and Josh Rahmani

From left: Joseph Rahmani, Daniel Rahmani, Josh Rahmani and Ebi Khalili
From left: Joseph Rahmani, Daniel Rahmani, Josh Rahmani and Ebi Khalili

They’ve called a family truce.

Brothers Joseph and Daniel Rahmani, formerly of Venture Capital Properties, have settled a lawsuit against their cousins and one time partners in the commercial brokerage, according to attorneys involved in the settlement talks.

Joseph and Daniel Rahmani sued Ebi Khalili and Arash “Josh” Rahmani, also brothers, in 2015, alleging they’d used the company as their own personal piggy bank and tried to shut them out of deals.

“The parties have amicably resolved their dispute, cleared each other of any allegations of wrongdoing and look forward to pursuing their respective real estate businesses in New York,” according to a joint statement issued by Darren Oved and Andrew Urgenson of Oved & Oved, who represented Khalili and Josh Rahmani, and Michael Maizes of Maizes and Maizes, who represented Joseph and Daniel Rahmani.

The attorneys declined to comment further on the particulars of the settlement.

In the suit, the plaintiffs claimed Khalilli had fired them by email, after years of mistreatment and abuse.

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“I urge you both to not take this as a joke if you come I will have the security escort you out,” the email allegedly read, according to the complaint.

They also alleged that their cousins had improperly pocketed hundreds of thousands — if not millions of dollars — after failing to split commissions with the company. In turn, Khalili and Josh accused their cousins of concealing commissions related to Sitt Asset Management’s $27 million sale of the Venetian in Brooklyn in 2014.

Daniel and Joseph have since joined a new brokerage, Capital Property Partners. Khalili and Josh are partners at real estate investment firm Empire Capital Holdings.

Family lawsuits aren’t exactly a rarity in the real estate world. Commercial broker Aaron Jungreis squared off against his own nephew in 2015 and developer Ben Shaoul was even sued by his own parents.

Eddie Sitt also accused his brother Ralph Sitt of squeezing him out of the family business in an attempt to gain full control of its holdings.