Hollywood Studio Claims Fraud in Location Shoot Agreement
Hollywood studios and production companies have discovered that Westchester County, and in particular White Plains, is a good place to shoot films on location. The industry has become solid over recent years, but it is not without its woes.
Last Thursday, 20th Century Fox filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, White Plains, claiming breach of contract and fraud against what it calls a shell company that rented it space in the former AT&T building at 440 Hamilton Ave.
The former office building, which is currently under renovation to become a multi-family residential building, was used by Fox to shoot newspaper office scenes for the movie “Post,” starring Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep.
The rental contract was for several weeks in 2017 and required some changes within the floor space used to accommodate filming.
Fox paid $300,000 to White Plains Development LLC, the purported owner of the property, through an agreement with Aaron S. Wexler, for use of three floors in the building as well as $100,000 as a security deposit to be returned when the studio vacated the property.
When Fox left, according to the Court documents, requests were sent to Wexler asking him to return the $100,000 deposit. The location rental agreement stated that any damage claims were to be made within 48 hours of the studio vacating the property.
According to Fox, Wexler submitted a list of “unsubstantiated and fabricated” damages after 30 days, which negated any claims by White Plains Development that it could keep the deposit.
In pursuing return of the $100,000 deposit, Fox discovered that White Plains Development never owned the property and that Wexler and any other individuals involved with White Plains Development had allegedly committed fraud in representing that they did.
In the Fox complaint, attorney Jonathan Zavin of Loeb & Loeb LLP, states that the alleged damages are “moot” because the property was scheduled for demolition and conversion to residential use and that because of the conversion the location agreement gave Fox permission to make renovations to the property.
The complaint also states that Wexler, who executed the location agreement on behalf of White Plains Development, deliberately concealed the true owners of the property at the time the location agreement was signed and used the White Plains Development corporate entity to commit fraud and unlawfully abscond with Fox’s security deposit.
“By representing that White Plains Development owned property that was in fact owned by two other corporate entities, Wexler facilitated his theft of Fox’s security deposit by increasing the difficulty of Fox’s recovering the money it is owed. Wexler is not entitled to hide behind the corporate form as a means to steal,” the complaint states.
Back in 2016, when American Equity Partners I, LLC, owners of 440 Hamilton Ave. at the time, presented a project to the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency to renovate the building, Aaron Wexler was the representative.
American Equity Partners eventually received Site Plan approval from the City of White Plains for the renovation. However, that project never went forward, the property changed hands and new owners, 440 Hamilton Owner LLC, had submitted an application for a revised site plan. That new plan is moving forward.
Request for comment from Aaron Wexler has not been returned as of press time.
