Not only did U.S. District judge Alison Nathan deny Ira Rennert, charged of looting his company to fund his mansion, a mistrial, but she called his defense team “inefficient at best and devious at worst, ” according to the New York Post.
Ira Rennert, who owned the largest magnesium producer in the U.S., Magnesium Corp, was ordered to pay to pay the dividends he took from shareholders, to the tune of $118 million while the company declared bankruptcy. A major reason for MagCorp’s financial problems was it ignored environmental violations and was facing tough fines as one of Utah’s worst polluters, although Rennert’s attorneys alleged the company was having issues with solvency because it was braving the financial crisis.
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Rennert’s legal team also urged the jury to ignore his 62, 000 square foot 29 bedroom, 39 bathroom mansion in the Hamptons, and said it was irrelevant to the issue at hand, which was the demise of the company. The trouble is, Rennert was diverting dividends which were supposed to go to shareholders to fund the luxury home. Rennert has yet to pay interest on what he owes, which could bring the damages to $700 million.
While Rennert’s attorney insisted on a retrial, judge Nathan said the defense had plenty of time to bring objections and failed to do so. In addition, Rennert’s company Renco and Rennert were found guilty under New York law, but not U.S. law. His attorney said this was inconsistent, but the judge rejected this complaint. However, Rennert’s defense team still insisted that MagCorp was solvent and Rennert had acted in good faith. They are going to try to appeal the case.
