Mauricio Umansky could possibly be facing another expensive setback. Netflix axed Buying Beverly Hills earlier this month. He and his estranged wife/Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, Kyle Richards, are facing some tax liens. Now, it was revealed that he and his luxury real estate firm, The Agency, are being sued.
Photo Credit: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images
Realtor LLC filed a suit against Mauricio, his business partner William “Billy” Rose, and The Agency. The complaint alleges that the business obtained over $3.5 million in fraudulent pandemic relief loans.
Mauricio Umansky and Billy Rose are accused of misrepresenting The Agency’s financial situation to receive the loans
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Realtor LLC filed the suit in July 2023. The complaint alleges that The Agency applied for and received both a Payroll Protection Program (PPP) and CARES Act loan. They totaled $3,521,153.
The loan programs were created during the pandemic to prevent businesses from terminating employees or not being able to pay them. However, Realtor LLC accused The Agency of being a “large, profitable” company that “misrepresent[ed] their financial situations, claiming their businesses were eligible when they were not or…misrepresenting how the funds would be used.”
Realtor LLC’s filing alleges that The Agency lied when they “falsely certified that ‘current economic uncertainty makes this loan request necessary to support the ongoing operations.’”
It continued, “In addition, the amounts they applied for and received exceeded the loan limit of 2.5 monthly salary with a cap of $100,000 annual salary per employee.” It added that Mauricio and Billy “later applied for and received full loan forgiveness, knowing they were ineligible for the loans in the first place.”
Realtor LLC says The Agency’s profits actually increased
Realtor’s LLC filing also contended that The Agency’s stream of revenue “would have been minimally impacted, if at all, because their revenue was based on a percentage of real estate transactions, typically between millionaires and billionaires, not consumers who were unable to buy goods or dine out because of the COVID-19 restrictions.”
According to the complaint, the opposite happened and The Agency’s “business grew massively.” In 2019, The Agency’s sales volume was $6 billion. It increased to $6.5 billion in 2020. Then, it “ballooned to $11.2 billion in 2021.” Realtor LLC believes that the loans “only bolstered defendants’ profits.” It’s worth noting that Mauricio is said to have a net worth of $100 million.
A representative for The Agency denied the allegations. “The claims in this case do not reflect the reality of our operations and financial situation at the time we filed for our PPP loans, and we intend to vigorously defend against these meritless claims.”
“The Agency has always operated with the highest level of integrity in all aspects of our business.” The rep says the company “faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including layoffs and cutbacks.”
Mauricio’s rep hasn’t commented yet.
Buying Beverly Hills streams on Netflix. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is available on Peacock.
