Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy creditors accused the former New York City mayor of paying his girlfriend and her daughter rather than those who are owed money.
Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December after a defamation case left him owing nearly $148m to two Georgia election workers. Lawyers for the Committee of Unsecured Creditors - basically those Giuliani owes money - are pleading with the court to appoint a trustee — a move that the former mayor objects to.
The disgraced ex-mayor’s court filings indicate that “he is using his income to pay the salaries of his reported girlfriend and her daughter,” referring to Maria Ryan, who co-hosted the newly canceled WABC radio show with Giuliani, and her daughter Vanessa Fenderson, the lawyers wrote.
The filing noted Fenderson is a defendant in two criminal cases pending in Wake County, North Carolina. Public records show she faces drug-related charges.
Regarding both women, the lawyers argued Giuliani has not provided information on their employment or related salary.
Giuliani is using “his income, an estate asset, is being used to fund their salaries, as ‘employees’... instead of distributions to creditors,” the creditors’ lawyers wrote in the scathing filing.
His “estate should benefit from the work he actually does, not his girlfriend, his girlfriend’s daughter or any other third party,” they added.
The lawyers - who represent one of the two election workers Shaye Moss, Giuliani’s sexual assault accuser Noelle Dunphy and Dominion Voting Systems - urged the court to appoint a trustee due to Giuliani’s “dishonesty,” “incompetence,” “gross mismanagement” of his affairs and breach of fiduciary duty.
“This request is not meant to ‘punish’ but to protect the creditors and the estate from the Debtor and the Debtor from himself,” the lawyers added.
Michael Ragusa, described by court records as Giuliani’s “physical security person,” told the New York Post on Friday that Maria Ryan and the former mayor were not dating.
“Dr Maria Ryan is Mayor Giuliani’s business partner and nothing more,” Ragusa said. “Any reports of her being his girlfriend are false rumors made up by the mayor’s enemies to damage his reputation and anyone associated with him.”
Court filings identify Ryan as the “president of Giuliani Communications,” the producer of Common Sense who “oversees the advertisers” and “runs the podcast operation,” and as having also worked for Giuliani Partners.
Documentation from January showed that Giuliani paid parts of Ryan’s credit card bills. In April, the creditors subpoenaed her.
Ragusa also told the outlet Fenderson has worked as a part-time secretary for the ex-mayor for more than five years.
The Independent has contacted Ryan, a lawyer listed for Fenderson, and a spokesperson for Giuliani.
The bankruptcy case is just one of the many legal battles that the former Trump attorney is involved with. Giuliani has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from an Arizona 2020 election interference case. He has also pleaded not guilty to similar charges in the state of Georgia.
Earlier today, he faced a minor legal victory: Hunter Biden is reportedly dropping his lawsuit against the former mayor over alleged violations of computer fraud and data access over Biden’s infamous laptop.
