Allegations of shady dealings among brokers and their clients dominated this past year’s top court battles in South Florida.
On the residential side, a Brazilian mogul who sold a waterfront estate to Jeff Bezos for $79 million last year alleges he could have sold the Indian Creek Island home for more money had Douglas Elliman not kept the buyer’s true identity hidden.
On the commercial front, two brokers accused national homebuilder Onx Homes of stiffing them on a six-figure commission from the $19.6 million sale of a development site in unincorporated southwest Miami-Dade County.
Other salacious legal skirmishes featured a prominent multifamily mogul suing a former pal for defamation; a crane collapse victim seeking more than $50 million in damages; and a Boca Raton couple facing accusations of defrauding investors out of $40 million in an alleged real estate scam.
Here are the 10 juiciest South Florida lawsuits reported by The Real Deal in 2024, categorized by the date the complaints were filed:
Grant Cardone files defamation lawsuit against John Legere
Nearly three years after their friendship soured spectacularly, Cardone sued former T-Mobile CEO John Legere in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in January. Cardone, an Aventura-based multifamily mogul with more than 10 million social media followers, alleges Legere defamed him repeatedly in online chats. For instance, Legere called Cardone “the biggest bullsh*t artist on the planet” and other allegedly slanderous insults in June of last year, the complaint states. As a result, Legere’s personal attacks resulted in Cardone’s brand losing $100 million in value, representing the damages he is seeking, Cardone claims. The lawsuit is still pending.
Bang Energy founder Jack Owoc sued for $100M by his former company’s liquidator
Also in January, the liquidator of Bang Energy’s parent company, Vital Pharmaceuticals, sued Bang Energy founder Jack Owoc in West Palm Beach federal court for his allegedly reckless management and use of company funds, largely to back real estate deals involving him and his son. Vital is seeking more than $100 million in damages against Owoc. He allegedly diverted $37.9 million to his son’s Owoc Real Estate Enterprise, which used the money to purchase 13 properties in Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Southwest Ranches, Pompano Beach and Delray Beach, according to the pending lawsuit. The complaint also accuses Owoc of buying a small island in Islamorada for $8.3 million using company funds.
Rishi Kapoor faces another round of lawsuits
In the wake of his collapse as a rising South Florida developer last year, Rishi Kapoor is navigating a minefield of civil lawsuits against him from investors, contractors and lenders. The list grew in February when nearly three dozen South American buyers piled on Kapoor’s legal troubles. In separate lawsuits filed in Miami-Dade Circuit, the buyers are seeking the return of nearly $10 million in deposits for co-living units they agreed to purchase from Kapoor’s defunct firm Location Ventures. The 33 plaintiffs, who are from Argentina, Colombia and Ecuador, allege Kapoor should return the money because the co-living condominium projects in Coral Gables, Coconut Grove and Miami Beach are no longer being built. While their complaints are still pending, Kapoor recently settled a separate federal lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that accused him of defrauding more than 50 investors out of $95 million.
Onx Homes allegedly stiffs brokers on $19.5M land deal
Shortly after Onx Homes sold 19.3 acres in unincorporated southwest Miami-Dade County to a land bank for national homebuilder Lennar, two commercial brokers sought to collect nearly $800,000 they allege represents their commission on the deal. In March, Coral Gables-based Lawrence Deddy and West Palm Beach-based Douglas James Kirlan sued an Onx affiliate in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. Their pending complaint alleges that Onx executives pretended they wanted to hold off on selling the development site to Lennar, but then resumed negotiations without their brokers’ knowledge.
Fort Lauderdale crane collapse victim seeks more than $50M in damages
Gemmalyn Castillo, who was nearly crushed by a construction crane that partially toppled at a Fort Lauderdale development site in April, sued the project’s developer, general contractor and subcontractors. The pending lawsuit, filed in Broward County Circuit Court a few weeks after the accident, alleges she “suffered severe and serious head and facial trauma” when the crane fell on her rideshare car. The project is Gables Riverwalk, a 43-story apartment building at 333 North New River Drive East. Castillo is seeking more than $50 million in damages from Atlanta-based Gables Residential, the project’s developer; its general contractor, West Palm Beach-based Kast Construction; and two subcontractors responsible for the crane’s operation. The accident also killed a construction worker and injured three others.
Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega’s epic battle with downtown Miami condo-hotel board
The condo association at Epic Hotel & Residences intensified a fight with Spanish real estate titan Amancio Ortega, who owns the hotel component of the 54-story waterfront tower in downtown Miami. In May, Epic West Condominium Association sued an affiliate of Grupo Ponte Gadea, Ortega’s real estate investment arm, in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. The pending complaint alleges that Ponte Gadea and a separate master association illegally control common areas and approve illegal assessments for the condo-hotel at 200 Biscayne Boulevard Way. The building has 414 hotel rooms and 363 condos. Ponte Gadea also has a pending lawsuit against Epic West that was filed in 2021.
Z Capital escalates legal battle with Carillon Miami Beach condo board members
New York-based Z Capital Group launched a new offensive in a nearly decade-long war with the a condo association at the Carillon Miami Wellness Resort, a condo-hotel consisting of three towers at 6801 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. Each tower has its own condo association. In June, Z Capital sued the current board president, current vice president and four past board members of the Central Tower association. No one on the boards of the North Tower and South Tower associations are named in the pending lawsuit, which was filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. Due to a significant number of hotel rooms in the central tower, Z Capital alleges the building’s condo board is working against owners’ interests. The three associations have filed “a barrage of lawsuits against Z Capital’s affiliates since 2016,” the complaint states. Z Capital owns the hotel portion.
Boca Raton couple allegedly siphons $45M from real estate investors
Janalie Bingham and Jean Joseph of Boca Raton allegedly raised $56 million from 660 investors across the nation to invest in their South Florida real estate projects. Instead, the couple allegedly only used about $11 million for real estate investments, according to a civil lawsuit filed in West Palm Beach federal court in August by the SEC. Bingham, CEO of West Palm Beach-based Wells Real Estate Investment, and Joseph are accused of making false promises to investors that their money would go toward purchasing, developing and renovating commercial and residential real estate properties across South Florida. The pair squandered roughly $45 million on speculative options and futures trading that lost at least $11.9 million of the funds, according to the pending complaint.
Brazilian mogul Leo Kryss sues Douglas Elliman over Jeff Bezo’s Indian Creek purchase
Brazilian mogul Leo Kryss blames Douglas Elliman and Jay Parker, Douglas Elliman’s Florida CEO, for Kryss not knowing about an Amazon Prime deal. In a September lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, Kryss alleges Parker and Elliman violated Florida law and a listing agreement by failing to ascertain that billionaire Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and the second wealthiest person in the world, was the true buyer of a waterfront estate on Indian Creek last year. An entity linked to Bezos paid $79 million last year for the home at 12 Indian Creek Island Road. In the pending complaint, Kryss alleges that Parker insisted Bezos wasn’t buying the property and that Kryss was persuaded to sell it for $6 million below the asking price because of the alleged misrepresentations. In a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Elliman claimed that no one involved in the deal knew Bezos was the true buyer, and that the brokerage did not have a duty to investigate who was behind the buying entity.
Broker sues ex-husband over alleged non-payment of $1M commission
Broker Alyssa Morgan and her ex-husband, John Jansheski, were getting along fine after they split in 2020. But their friendly interactions turned bitter after Jansheski allegedly sidelined Morgan from selling his waterfront mansion in Miami Beach’s Star Island. In September, Morgan sued Jansheski in Miami-Dade Circuit Court for allegedly cutting her and her brokerage, Inside Network, out of the deal. Jansheski sold the home at 27 East Star Island Drive for $57 million last year. In the pending lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, Morgan alleges that she spent a year and a half marketing the property, which included arranging showings for the buyer who ultimately purchased the property, CrossCountry Mortgage CEO Ron Leonhardt. In August of last year, Jansheski gave the listing to Douglas Elliman agent Dina Goldentayer, who earned a $1.1 million commission that should have been paid to Morgan, the complaint alleges. Elliman is also a defendant, but Goldentayer is not named in the lawsuit.