Almost a year after former state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued developer Yair Levy, the results are in: a state Supreme Court judge has ruled that Levy did indeed defraud Battery Park City's troubled Rector Square and deplete its reserve fund by $1.6 million. Levy argued that he had to spend the reserve money because the building's construction funds were shut down, but as the judge put it, Levy failed to present "one scintilla of evidence" that he actually spent the reserve money on anything related to the building. In fact, according to the attorney general, Levy spent the Battery Park City Hell Building's money at, uh, Staples and Verizon (and on his relatives). Things are looking up for the building, though. Levy's attorney tells The Real Deal that Levy's working on a deal to put money back in the reserve fund. And new owner Related is working toward the same thing before finishing the condo conversion and resuming sales. Soon maybe everybody will be as happy as Augusten Burroughs.
· Judge rules against Levy in reserve fund case at Rector Square [Real Deal]
· Rector Square coverage [Curbed]
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