Jesse Hamilton, Diana Boutross Accused of $250K Shakedown

A consultant seeking an $8 million payday on a pair of New York City leases claims former city official Jesse Hamilton and veteran Cushman & Wakefield broker Diana Boutross demanded a $250,000 “side payment” before allowing the deals to move ahead.

Staten Island businessman Mazen Dayem is suing Hamilton, Boutross, Cushman & Wakefield and landlords Madison Capital and Salmar Properties, accusing them of orchestrating a scheme to derail his consulting agreement on two city leases at 850 Third Avenue in Brooklyn.

Dayem claims he signed a consulting agreement with the owners in July 2025 to oversee construction and coordinate lease negotiations with the FDNY and Department of Homeless Services (DHS). The contract allegedly promised him $4 million for each completed lease.

But Hamilton, then deputy commissioner of real estate services at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), allegedly told Dayem that the deals would only proceed if he personally received $250,000, the suit claims. Hamilton allegedly said the FDNY transaction could not move forward unless Boutross was involved despite CBRE representing the agency, the suit alleges.

Two weeks later, during a walkthrough of the property, Boutross allegedly repeated the demand, telling Dayem she would only finalize the deal if he paid her and Hamilton $250,000 in cash, according to the complaint. After Dayem refused, Boutross allegedly told him, “You will regret this.”

Hamilton, who resigned from DCAS after a Manhattan grand jury indicted him on a conspiracy charge, could not immediately be reached for comment. Boutross hung up when reached by phone at her office. Representatives for Cushman and the landlords did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The suit also alleges Boutross, Hamilton and Cushman falsely reported that Dayem had assaulted Boutross and another broker during the walkthrough, triggering a DCAS investigation that effectively froze him out of the project. The brokerage then worked directly with the owners to seal the deal, Dayem alleges.

According to the complaint, the agency formally closed the investigation in September 2025, and DCAS sent him the proposed lease term sheet. But the landlord continued to work with Boutross and later terminated Dayem’s contract, the suit claims.

Dayem is seeking $36 million in damages from Hamilton, Boutross and Cushman and $8 million from the owners.

The case is not Dayem’s first memorable court battle. In 2017, he made headlines after suing his father-in-law over what he claimed was an elaborate campaign of psychological torment involving a bushy toupee. Dayem, who said he suffers from an intense fear of the Tasmanian Devil cartoon character, alleged his father-in-law deliberately used a wild gray wig to scare him, according to the New York Post.

In January, he sued his wife’s uncle, alleging he mismanaged funds at a Brooklyn commercial property they owned together. He and his wife are also embroiled in a legal battle with a Long Island law firm over $90,000 the firm alleges it is owed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings involving two limited liability companies.