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Lawyers for luxury broker Tal Alexander filed a motion on Monday to reopen his detention hearing, which was held last Friday, in a second effort at obtaining bail after being arrested on federal charges of sex trafficking and conspiring to commit sex trafficking last week along with his brothers Oren and Alon.
On Friday, Tal’s lawyers presented a $115 million bail package to be secured by his parents’ home, office building and other properties owned by the family. That bid for bail was denied.
In the motion to reopen the hearing, Tal’s parents offered a bond “in any amount secured by the entirety of their assets.”
The motion also argued that the hearing should be reopened because the government never produced Jencks Act material, or written or recorded statements from a government witness made in advance of a trial, which are supposed to be presented after the witness’ testimony. The Jencks Act was also brought up on Friday at the hearing, during which Judge Lissette Reid said that if what the government submitted contained material information, Tal’s lawyers could file a motion to reopen his detention hearing.
The motion also pushed back at the government’s assertion that Tal posed a flight risk, given his wealth and family ties to Israel.
FBI special agent Justine Atwood had argued that if Tal fled to Israel, the U.S. would not be able to extradite him. But Tal’s attorneys in the motion said Atwood’s assertion was “unequivocally false,” citing an extradition treaty that Israel holds with the U.S. The motion also argued that special agent Atwood did not provide any evidence that Tal attempted to flee after news reports about an FBI investigation against the brothers surfaced over the summer.
“Mr. Alexander is a United States citizen who has substantial family ties in the United States and who has no history of flight or intentions to flee,” the motion says. “Indeed, Special Agent Atwood testified that she did not uncover any information suggesting Mr. Alexander planned or prepared to leave the country, even after news reports in July about the ongoing criminal investigation. Additionally, Mr. Alexander does not hold citizenship in any other country, including Israel, and has not visited Israel in at least three years.”
Tal and his parents, according to the motion, are also offering to hand over financial documents and provide witnesses to prove that “there is sufficient financial disincentive” for Tal to leave the country.
Last week, Judge Reid said the government had met its burden to prove that Tal posed a flight risk.
The government has until Wednesday to file a response to Tal’s motion to reopen the hearing. Tal is currently being held in a federal detention center in Miami.
Oren and Alon are currently being held in state facilities in Miami after being awarded a combined $5 million bond last week. A bond review scheduled for Monday in Miami-Dade was delayed until Thursday because of a paperwork scuffle. But Judge Lody Jean said that the brothers’ bond terms, particularly their house arrest and GPS monitoring, may be complicated by how things pan out with the brothers’ federal case.
Ongoing lawsuit with Side
Meanwhile, Side has also now filed a preliminary injunction against Oren and Tal Alexander and their Side-backed brokerage, Official Partners, as part of a civil lawsuit that they filed against the firm in October. The preliminary injunction seeks to prevent the brothers from dissipating, hiding or moving collateral for a $4.6 million loan that Side alleges the brothers defaulted on.
Now that Oren and Tal have become the recipients of criminal charges, Side is arguing that resolving their lawsuit has become more urgent. The white-label firm alleged that the brothers might use the loan collateral to cover legal fees from their federal charges and any other financial costs related to posting bail.
Side also noted that, as the brothers are now in police custody in Miami, they are unreachable. In addition, the firm argued that if they are released, they pose a flight risk because of their wealth and international connections.
Lawyers for Tal and Oren responded on Monday to the preliminary injunction stating that the criminal charges against them are irrelevant to the Side lawsuit.
Side filed a restraining order against Official in November for allegedly moving the collateral involved in the loan. The Alexanders have denied the allegations.
DOJ reaches out to Douglas Elliman
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has also reportedly reached out to Douglas Elliman to learn more about Oren and Tal’s 10-year careers at the brokerage, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The brothers were at Douglas Elliman from 2012 to 2022 and then left to launch Official with cofounders Nicole Oge, Andrew Wachtfogel and Richard Jordan.
Douglas Elliman has reportedly been cooperating with the DOJ and preparing to hand over records to the department, including those recently turned up in an internal review that was conducted at the firm in October in the wake of a growing number of lawsuits launched against the brothers in the last several months.
Shortly after the internal inquiry, Douglas Elliman abruptly announced the retirement of former CEO Howard Lorber. The Wall Street Journal later reported that Lorber had been pressured to resign in the wake of the scandal and as the brokerage faced growing financial losses.
“We are appalled by the Alexander brothers’ alleged shocking and disturbing conduct, and we express the utmost sympathy for anyone who may have been victimized by them,” a spokesperson for Douglas Elliman told Bloomberg.
According to Bloomberg’s report, individuals affiliated with the firm are being notified to save any documents they might have tied to Oren or Tal Alexander.
Some of the alleged sexual assault and rape incidents that were mentioned in the lawsuits against the brothers in the last several months overlapped with their time at Douglas Elliman. The federal indictment against the brothers further states that it is believed the brothers had engaged in sexual assault and rape that may date back to two decades ago, while they were still attending high school in Miami.
Two prominent Douglas Elliman agents, Tracy Tutor of Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles and top producer Jessica Cohen, both told The New York Times they believed they had been drugged by one or more of the brothers at parties, following which their memories are foggy.
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Email Lillian Dickerson