A Mayor de Blasio donor and the government’s key witness in several city corruption probes defaulted on a Brooklyn shopping mall he bought two years ago — thanks to his newfound status as a convicted felon, sources told The Post.
Real-estate-investor-turned-government snitch Jona Rechnitz was sued in Brooklyn state court over his failure to pay a $15 million loan on Solomon Plaza in Borough Park, which he proudly purchased in 2015 for $25 million.
Rechnitz had been trying to refinance the debt ahead of a looming May 1 deadline, but the bank was wary of giving him a new loan now that he’s a convicted felon, sources told The Post.
That allowed a rival investor to swoop in with a stronger application and “steal” the loan, according to sources.
“The property is not distressed,” said a person familiar with the humiliating foreclosure action. “The property ended up in this situation because of Jona Rechnitz’s problems.”
Rechnitz’s lawyer declined to comment.
Last year, Rechnitz — the owner of JSR Capital real-estate management company — copped to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, which carries a maximum 20 years in prison. He’s told Manhattan federal prosecutors he bribed New York City cops, tried to bribe Mayor de Blasio’s office into helping him with building permits and acted as the middleman for a hedge-fund pal seeking to bribe a union official.