More women have come forward alleging they were raped or sexually assaulted by Oren Alexander, a top South Florida broker named in two lawsuits making similar accusations.
The Wall Street Journal reported that five women alleged attacks by Alexander in incidents that occurred as recently as 2020 and as early as when he was in high school.
The Real Deal first reported that two women, Rebecca Mandel and Kate Whiteman, filed lawsuits in March against Oren and his twin, Alon, alleging the brothers raped and sexually assaulted them in 2010 and 2012. The lawsuits were filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which allows survivors who were over the age of 18 at the time of the assault to sue their alleged perpetrators regardless of how long ago the crime occurred.
Days after TRD’s initial reporting, the plaintiffs’ attorney, Evan Torgan of Torgan Cooper + Aaron, said that he and his partners had spoken with at least 28 additional alleged victims.
Oren, a top broker in South Florida, last week stepped down from Official, the brokerage he co-founded with his brother, Tal. Tal has not been named in lawsuits, but the New York Times reported on Monday that Torgan said he has heard from alleged victims of Tal as well.
Tal, who is based in New York, wrote in an internal email this past weekend that he expected lawyers “will soon try to lump me in with the allegations against Alon and Oren.” He denied the allegations, according to the Journal.
The Journal’s reporting describes a pattern of behavior by Oren over the years similar to that outlined in the two lawsuits. One woman said that after going on several dates with Oren, she went to his home in 2017. He offered that she try on his virtual reality headset, and when she did, Oren ripped her dress off, pinned her down and raped her, she told the Journal.
Criminal defense attorney Isabelle Kirshner, who replaced South Florida lawyer Jim Ferraro as the Alexanders’ attorney, declined to comment to the Journal about the latest allegations. Kirshner denied the allegations in the lawsuits.
Another woman, a real estate agent in Miami, said she was victimized by Oren in early 2017. In her account, after hanging out at a Miami Beach nightclub, she went back to his home where he poured her a drink and they became intimate. But as they headed for his bedroom she started to feel sick, said she wanted to sleep it off and refused to have sex with him. Then he raped her, the woman told the Journal.
The accounts were verified by other people, according to the newspaper.
Alon is president of Kent Services, a division of Kent Security, a firm he co-founded with his mother, Orly, and other family members.
In the wake of the allegations, Official co-founders Nicole Oge, Richard Jordan and Andrew Wachtfogel have attempted to distance themselves from Oren and downplay the Alexanders’ role in the company. On Friday, Oge wrote in a company email that she and her partners were severing ties with Oren.
All of Official’s co-founders worked at Douglas Elliman. Oren and Tal built their careers at the brokerage before they partnered with the white label firm Side, led by Guy Gal, to launch Official in 2022.