Credit: Shutterstock/Kathy Hutchins
Mauricio Umansky recently filed a motion to keep the identities of investors involved in the controversial sale of a $32 million mansion in Malibu private.
As the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member, 53, continues to fight back against a lawsuit claiming the sale was fraudulent, Mauricio begged a judge to prevent the potential release of the names of those he worked alongside.
According to a November 21 report from Radar Online, Mauricio, who is in the midst of a separation from his wife Kyle Richards, 54, explained that the names of his “passive investors” should be sealed to protect their privacy. And, after a November 17 hearing, Judge Mark H. Epstein agreed — at least for now.
During the hearing, the judge temporarily sealed the documents and requested the developer Sam Hakim and realtor Aitan Segal, who are behind the lawsuit against Mauricio, file “robust” legal documents regarding the potential exposure of the investors.
“After all, the court has some doubt as to whether the names of the investors are all that critical to the motion or opposition, and if that is correct, the court might grant the motion in that respect,” the judge wrote. “But the court is not sure of that. Defendants have already suggested that all of the investors were mere passive investors although that was at least arguably not the case.”
The judge also hinted that Mauricio and those suing him could be trying to make a deal with one another that is dependent upon the investors remaining under wraps.
“As to the settlement, the court will need to better understand what the nature of the privacy right is other than that the parties would like to keep the document confidential (and the court is not even sure of that, as not all of the parties to the settlement have weighed in on the motion),” the judge continued.
As RHOBH fans will recall, Mauricio was sued by Sam and Aitan for allegedly ignoring their $40 million offer to buy a home previously owned by Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who had the property seized after being caught embezzling millions from his home country of Equatorial Guinea, where his father is president.
After the U.S. Department of Justice enlisted Mauricio to sell the seized mansion, Mauricio reportedly ignored the $40 million bid and instead purchased the home himself with partner Mauricio Oberfeld, later selling it for nearly $70 million one year later — for a massive profit of $37 million.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 13 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.
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