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Father of “Property Wars” star sells Faena House condo involved in bank fraud scheme

Joseph Menaged sold the now-combined unit for $300K less than his purchase price in 2015

Joseph Menaged with the Faena House (Douglas Elliman, Menaged via Facebook)
Joseph Menaged with the Faena House (Douglas Elliman, Menaged via Facebook)

Joseph Menaged, who pleaded guilty to bank fraud, sold his Faena House condo in Miami Beach for $7.2 million.

Menaged, the father of a “Property Wars” reality TV star, sold unit 9C at the ultra-luxury Faena House at 3315 Collins Avenue via a trust in his name, to HY PH-04 LLC, which is linked to Domus Arbiter Realty Corp.

The three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom unit spans 3,375 square feet. It is a combined unit that Menaged acquired in two deals dating back to 2015.

The buyer’s LLC is managed by Yelena Yarmak, founder of the fashion house Helen Yarmak.

Menaged was indicted in 2019 on charges of bank fraud, transactional money laundering, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and a forfeiture allegation. Last year, he pleaded guilty to the bank fraud charge and the other charges were dropped. Menaged was sentenced to time served.

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Menaged’s son, Scott, was a cast member of Discovery Channel’s “Property Wars.” Scott Menaged was sentenced in late 2017 to 17 years in prison for leading fraud schemes that defrauded investors of more than $30 million. He had previously pleaded guilty to bank fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft.

On “Property Wars,” Scott was part of a group of buyers who purchased houses at auctions in Phoenix with the goal of later flipping them for a profit. The show ran for two seasons in 2012 and 2013.

The indictment against Joseph Menaged laid out how he and his longtime accountant used fake and backdated records to obtain loans for his condo purchases at One57 and 157 West 57th Street in Manhattan, as well as units 9D and 9C at Faena House, the latter of which are now combined. Menaged paid a total of $7.6 million for the Faena House units in 2015.

Part of Menaged’s plea required him to become current on his Florida and New York properties, as well as to pay the receiver in the case $350,000. According to a motion filed in late June, he satisfied the conditions of his plea and could be sentenced in advance of the original sentencing date of Oct. 4.

For the Faena House sale, Pablo Alfaro and Oren Alexander of Douglas Elliman represented the seller, while Inga Boutboul of One Sotheby’s International Realty brought the buyer, according to Redfin.

In June, billionaire Ken Griffin sold his remaining penthouse at Faena House for $11.2 million, after selling his larger penthouse for $35 million in December.

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