Movies get starring role in lawsuits

Lawsuits often come with their own theatrics, but a spate of recent New York real estate cases has invoked a different kind of drama: Show business.

Take for instance an agreement the brokerage Compass signed with Siras Development to market units at Hudson Rise, a 47-story mixed-used tower in the Hudson Yards area that Siras is building with Kuafu Properties and Blackhouse Development.

In a lawsuit filed late last month against its partner Kuafu, Siras injected a reference to the famous moment in “Casablanca” when Captain Renault professes to be “shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” immediately before being handed his winnings.

Siras was referring to an email Kuafu principal, Sang Dai, wrote saying he was “totally shocked” to learn that Siras had hired Compass to market some of the condo units without notifying him.

Additionally, another suit involving 45 John Street recently cited the Broadway show “The Producers.”

In that case, Chun Peter Dong, who owns a large stake in the Financial District building, sued his partner, investor Chaim Miller, claiming Miller embezzled a down payment of nearly $14 million and never informed him about a $66 million deal to sell the property.

“The facts recited herein detail the fraudulent escapades of defendants Miller and [partner Samuel] Sprei, who have emulated the roles of Max Bialystock and his accountant in the Mel Brooks production, ‘The Producers,’” Miller’s suit said. “Bialystock sold the ownership of a Broadway show multiple times over to unwitting investors.”

Cue the sinister laugh for the next case involving the 75-year-old Sybil Goldrich, who invested money with Morton Olshan, the patriarch of one of New York’s top real estate families, when she was 19. According to Goldrich’s suit, she was among a group that helped Morton purchase six buildings early in his career.

“Mrs. Goldrich is no longer a teenager and … she would like to realize the value of her long-ago investment in the form of a sale profit or steady income from these valuable buildings,” Goldrich’s lawyers stated in the December suit.

The Olshans, the suit claimed, attempted to buy out investors “in a manner evocative of villains in old films like ‘Shane’ and ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’” by giving investors lowball offers for their ownership stake.