Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has agreed to a last-minute deal in his bankruptcy case and will pay an estimated $400,000 in administrative fees to a financial adviser hired by his creditors, court papers show.
The agreement was filed on July 31 in federal court in White Plains, New York.
According to the court filing, Giuliani, 80, will give his lawyers $100,000 to help pay the creditors’ forensic financial adviser, New York-based Global Data Risk.
The rest of the firm’s expenses will be paid from the proceeds of Giuliani’s sale of either his New York City apartment or his Florida condominium, which are worth an estimated $5.6 million and $3.5 million, respectively, according to court documents.
Global Data Risk may also put liens on both of those properties to ensure that Giuliani—who once served as legal adviser to President Donald Trump—pays all its fees, the agreement states.
Global Data Risk will be granted permission to foreclose if the fees still have not been fully paid after six months, according to the agreement.
Judge Says Giuliani May Have to Testify
It comes just days after the judge said that Giuliani may have to testify during a hearing about his financial situation if a deal regarding his finances could not be reached.
That came after he dismissed the case against Giuliani in June, finding that it was in the best interests of those owed money by the former lawyer because he had failed to meet obligations of financial transparency.
However, in his July 24 order, Lane said he had been unable to officially dismiss the case against Giuliani in court because the estimated $400,000 in administrative fees, accumulated during litigation, had not been paid.
Giuliani’s lawyers said their client was unable to pay the fees to the creditors’ forensic financial adviser as required under bankruptcy laws because he did not have the money to do so.
As such, the judge said he was considering initiating proceedings to assess the details of Giuliani’s current financial circumstances so that a detailed dismissal order could be created ensuring full fee payment.
“Such a route will inevitably include disclosure of documents and might include testimony under oath by the Debtor,” Lane wrote at the time.
The judge ultimately ordered both parties in the case to submit court filings to provide their views on the most appropriate path forward by noon on July 31.
The agreement was filed less than three hours before the deadline, court documents show.
Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2023 after he was ordered to pay $148 million for defaming Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss when he accused them of committing election fraud in 2020.
Lane’s June decision to dismiss Giuliani’s bankruptcy allows Freeman and Moss to seek enforcement and payment of the $148 million awarded to them in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia case.
His bankruptcy had previously put a hold on those collection efforts.
