Designer sues the fraud of insurance companies to skip a judgment of $ 38 million

A building fire in 2014 destroyed more than 2,300 archived dresses and dresses in the valued collections of Lebanese fashion designer Reem Acra.

In June, the designer received a stunning total judgment of $ 38.7 million, which recently partially pursued it by the Chetrit Group of the landlord Meyer Chetrit for financial data.

Now ACRA is coming to the insurance companies that she says they are trying to avoid their part of the judgment.

The companies have a new defense: they do not have to pay because they are cheated by the policyholder.

But in a legal complaint that was submitted last week, lawyers say for the ACRA bridal label that the insurance companies participate in the same deception.

“This is not only a matter of an insurance company that is not trying to pay, but a matter of really misleading behavior – not only to our customer, but to the city of New York,” said Charles Wollman, a lawyer for REEM Bridals with Amini LLC. “They make it look like there was fraud to prevent coverage under the policy.”

The fire of 2014 was the result of construction work by MJR Construction, the ACRA label, successfully in court. The company lost its Spring Bridal Collection, 300 evening dresses and other inventory of smoke damage.

Acra’s dresses are not cheap. Her designs have appeared on Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Jill Biden and the most recently, second Lady Usha Vance. A judge in June granted the brand $ 20.9 million compensation, which achieved $ 38.7 million after a decade of interest.

But the companies that insure MJR say they were duped. Although the policyholder was Michael J. Russell, who kept the title CEO and owner with the company, it was his father, Steven, who led the operation, they say in complaints to the company. Since Steven falsified Michael Russell’s signature on legal documents, the policy should be void, they argued in court. When MJR did not oppose the lawsuit, a judge ruled in favor of the insurers.

However, ACRA’s lawyers claim that Michael was indeed involved in the company. His signature was noted about the general contractor of MJR 2009, along with a copy of his driver’s license. He received a salary from the company, they claim, and an agent for the insurers has also signed many of the documents in question.

Even after the alleged fraud was discovered, Burlington paid for lawyers to defend MJR in statements, according to ACRA’s complaint. And despite the supplications of the insurers that the Russells would not collaborate with their research, the companies have both Steven and Michael Russell on the phone, according to the complaint.

ACRA is looking for $ 7 million of the companies, plus interest.

The companies are Burlington Insurance Co. and Alterra America Insurance Co. Neither IFG companies, the parent of Burlington, nor Markel, the successor of Alterra, responded to a request for comments on Tuesday. None of the Russells could be achieved for comment.

The fire took place in 245 West 34th Street in Manhattan, while the ACRA studio was nearby on the seventh floor of No. 240. The Chetrit group owned the building that caught fire. ACRA tries to collect the part of the judgment of the chetrits in individual legal proceedings.