A New York City real estate tycoon is suing his own nephew, accusing the younger man of scheming to dethrone him as head of the lucrative family business, according to a civil court filing obtained by The Daily Beast.
The nephew sent an email on Sept. 9 attacking his uncle for alleged “fraud and concealment in his management of the business,” states the lawsuit, which blasted the “malicious and unlawful [effort] to besmirch” Albert Kalimian’s “good name.” Kalimian, 64, argues in the complaint that his sister’s son has launched “unjustified and bad faith efforts to disrupt and usurp Mr. Kalimian’s management of the highly successful family real estate business.”
The email was distributed to seven people, including two of Kalimian’s sisters, according to the lawsuit, which was filed on Oct. 21 in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.
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Kalimian, who was once accused of trying to take possession of an elderly widow’s home without her knowledge after she fell behind on her property taxes, is seeking compensatory and punitive damages from the nephew, 34-year-old Justin Amirian, whom he derided for a supposed lack of “training or experience.”
Amirian, a lawyer turned real estate investor, told The Daily Beast on Monday that the lawsuit his uncle filed a few days earlier didn’t ring a bell. He declined to comment further.
Kalimian is the head of the family’s namesake firm, which has interests in “10 commercial and multifamily properties in Manhattan,” according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In June, he received a $240 million loan for an office building on Fifth Avenue—the largest real estate loan in Manhattan that month—The Real Deal reported.
One of the participants in the deal, the outlet added, was Eagle Point Properties; Amirian is the principal of that firm.
According to the lawsuit, the family business was founded by Kalimian’s father, Roy, “a prominent member of the Persian Jewish community in New York City,” who mentored his son in the real estate trade. Kalimian went on to manage the business “on behalf of himself and his three sisters, Rita Sakhaie, Debbie Kalimian and Justin’s mother, Edna Amirian.”
The lawsuit alleges that Amirian is trying to oust Kalimian as managing partner. The filing also claims that Amirian has sent a “flurry of emails and letters plainly designed to harass and make unreasonable and unjustified demands” of his uncle. The Sept. 9 email, it continues, “falsely and outrageously” accused Kalimian of having “a long history of failure to provide, or actively (and very likely fraudulently) concealing, information to members of LLCs and tenants in common, despite contractual obligations to the contrary.”
Reached by phone, Edna Amirian confirmed she is Kalimian’s sister and Justin Amirian’s mother, but declined to comment on the lawsuit, referring all inquiries to her son. In the suit, Kalimian contends that he, “with the approval and cooperation of his sisters, Rita Sakhaie and Debbie Kalimian, has managed the real estate business with the utmost skill, integrity and success.” But, the filing claims, Amirian, “an attorney who should know better, has persisted with his harassment campaign.” “Accordingly, Mr. Kalimian brings this action to clear his good name and recover the damages he has suffered as a result of Justin’s defamation,” it says.
Kalimian, who declined to comment, has a history of litigation. According to court records, he is listed as the plaintiff in numerous actions in the state Supreme Court, on issues ranging from small claims disputes to foreclosure proceedings. Earlier this year, a tenant in one of Kalimian’s buildings accused him and other defendants of ignoring repeated complaints about harmful mold allegedly growing in their apartment.
In 2014, Kalimian made news after an elderly widow in Long Island claimed she tried to sell her home, only to discover that the businessman had taken possession of it.
She had failed to keep up with her tax obligations, leading to multiple liens. Kalimian allegedly took control of the deed by buying “a $3,300 lien from the village of Oyster Bay Cove”—without her knowledge. A lawyer for the woman said at the time that Kalimian had refused to broker a deal with her, until a lawsuit was filed and reporters started to investigate.
"For him to be able to come in and take the house that my parents had paid off and lived [in] for 40 years for a few thousand dollars, that shouldn't happen,” her son told NBC New York that year.
An attorney for Kalimian argued at the time that his client didn’t know the homeowner was a widow when he took possession of her home, adding that Kalimian’s activity was legal and had received sign-off from a lawyer for the village. He reportedly agreed to hash out a deal in which the owner would “pay the liens back with interest and reimburse him for his legal fees.”
An employee in Kalimian’s office confirmed on Monday that the situation was settled, allowing the widow to keep her home. She chided The Daily Beast for asking questions about it, saying, “You’re just trying to dig up dirt.”
