Newmark Still Chasing Nightingale Co-Founder for $3M

Newmark is turning up the heat on Simon Singer, the former Nightingale Properties president fighting a $3 million judgment tied to the implosion of the firm from the CrowdStreet fundraising scandal.

The brokerage is asking a Manhattan judge to force Singer, his wife and affiliated entities to hand over more financial records as it tries to collect on the judgment, according to court filings. Singer’s legal team argues Newmark has no business chasing payment while dodging questions about its own relationship with convicted fraudster Elie Schwartz, Bisnow reported.

The publication was tipped off to the legal fight by The Promote.

The dispute stems from Newmark’s 2021 acquisition of Nightingale Realty, the management arm co-founded by Singer and Schwartz. Newmark later alleged it had been defrauded in the deal and struck a 2023 settlement rather than litigate.

Under that agreement, Schwartz was on the hook for $11 million in payments while Singer guaranteed up to half of any unpaid amount, capped at $3 million.

That arrangement unraveled after Schwartz pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud tied to roughly $63 million CrowdStreet investors poured into properties like the Atlanta Financial Center and Lincoln Place in Miami Beach. A federal judgment of nearly $55 million followed. Newmark then secured its own $3 million judgment against Singer in August.

The brokerage claims Singer is stonewalling collection efforts by withholding details on bank accounts, real estate holdings and trust assets. In a May 11 filing, Newmark alleged Singer’s finances are intertwined with those of his wife, Chana Singer, through “a complex web of entities and trusts.”

The brokerage also pointed to FTK Capital Management’s recent acquisition of 111 West Jackson Boulevard in Chicago as evidence the Singer family still has dry powder. An FTK affiliate bought the 560,000-square-foot Loop office tower through a discounted note sale for about $25 million earlier this year.

Singer’s attorneys fired back, calling the discovery demands “harassing and overreaching” and arguing their client already produced tax returns, W-2s and bank statements. They also contend the judgment itself may be invalid because Schwartz never completed the payments that allegedly triggered Singer’s guarantee obligations.

The bigger fight may center on Newmark’s own role in the Nightingale orbit. Singer’s lawyers claim the brokerage simultaneously represented Schwartz and managed properties tied to the same deals later exposed as fraudulent, all without disclosing that relationship before Singer signed the settlement.

An appellate hearing is scheduled for May 28.

— Holden Walter-Warner