Hand over $2.6 billion in cash, and stakes in more than 17,000 apartments across the San Fernando Valley, a jury told Haresh Jogani earlier this week, ending a 20-year legal saga involving the portfolio’s ownership.
The Jogani family has been embroiled in lawsuits since 2003, when one brother, Shashikant Jogani, sued Haresh for not abiding by an oral agreement that his four brothers would have a share in the portfolio.
More lawsuits were filed over the years, culminating in a five-month trial that ended this month at the Los Angeles Superior Court offices in Downtown L.A.
Haresh owes three of his brothers a total of $2.6 billion in cash damages, the jury determined, for withholding stakes in the multifamily portfolio for years, according to court documents.
The jury also divvied up the portfolio of 17,000 units, which attorneys have valued at more than $6 billion, across the five Joganis. That figure calculates to about $352,900 per unit.
Shashikant was awarded the biggest share of the portfolio and monetary damages — a 50 percent stake in the portfolio and $1.8 billion in damages.
Chetan Jogani was awarded $299 million in damages plus a 6.5 percent stake in the portfolio, and Rajesh was awarded $459.8 million in damages plus a 10 percent stake in the portfolio.
The fifth brother, Shailesh, was awarded a 9.5 percent stake.
The damages could balloon next week, according to Peter Ross, an attorney at Ross LLP representing Rajesh and Chetan, when the court will hold a hearing on whether to award punitive damages on top of what the jury already awarded.
The Jogani family has been one of the largest landlords in L.A. County’s San Fernando Valley since the 1990s. The brothers are the sons of a diamond merchant in India. The properties are controlled by companies headquartered L.A., Nevada and the British Virgin Islands.
Shashikant moved to the U.S. from India in 1969 and bought his first apartment property in 1979 for about $500,000. By 1994, he owned more than 24 properties across Van Nuys, North Hollywood, San Fernando, Sylmar, Northridge and Canoga Park, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time.