Congratulations to Client Tessler Developments for Arbitral Victory Regarding Forged Bonus Provision and Guaranty

Congratulations to client Tessler Developments’ Principal Yitzchak Tessler and CFO Ari Herrmann for their September 26 arbitral victory against claimant Lion’s Property Development Group LLC (“claimant”). Lion’s Property claimed they were owed a $1 million-plus “bonus” under an EB-5 brokerage agreement, while our client contended that: (1) the “bonus” portion of the brokerage agreement had been forged; and (2) the alleged Guaranty was also a forgery.

David Ross, who represented Tessler Developments, Mr. Tessler and Mr. Herrmann in the arbitration was able to strategically pick apart the claimant’s case through careful cross-examination and the forensic evidence, which showed that the bonus language in the disputed agreement was printed on a different printer than the rest of the document.  

Additionally, David, after reviewing hundreds of documents that claimant had access to, found the precise signature that was “cut-and-pasted” to the alleged Guaranty. Both forgeries were confirmed by an expert. In addition, David surprised the claimant on cross-examination by locating a nearly 12-year old document from a prior case that resulted in the claimant admitting that he had given misleading testimony at his pre-hearing deposition.

As a result, arbitrator Michele S. Riley of the International Centre for Dispute Resolution dismissed all of the claimant’s claims, including the Guaranty claim, where she held that “the evidence adduced at the hearing compels the conclusion that the Guaranty was created without the prior knowledge or consent of… Tessler and Herrmann and that their signatures on the Guaranty were forged.”

A copy of the Decision is attached.