There’s tough tenants. And then there’s Alex Shchegol and his now-defunct ASA College.
ASA College inked a big lease at JEMB’s Herald Center at 1293 Broadway in 2013 to expand its footprint to nearly 160,000 square feet at the 10-story building.
But after the ASA College missed rent payments in 2020, an entity tied to Joseph Jerome’s JEMB Realty sued the school and owner Shchegol. By then, Shchegol and his for-profit school became embroiled in multiple controversies, making him the poster child for everything wrong with for-profit colleges.
At least ten women had accused Shchegol of misconduct. ASA also faced scrutiny over deceptive marketing campaigns and was set to lose its accreditation.
Meanwhile, Shchegol made life difficult for the college’s old landlord. After a New York state court awarded two judgments over $18 million against Shchegol and ASA College in 2022, Shchegol embarked on a series of unusual legal moves. JEMB’s lawyers said his legal strategy, which included transferring money to Shchegol’s wife, amounted to judgment evasion.
The litigation, spanning multiple lawsuits over the course of three years, has now been settled, allowing JEMB a chance to collect the money it is owed.
“We are proud to have secured this remarkable outcome for our client after diligently pursuing defendants through their complex legal maneuvering,” said Terrence and Darren Oved of Oved & Oved. “This settlement reflects our firm’s unwavering commitment to achieving outstanding results and safeguarding our clients’ interests.”
Shchegol did not return a request to comment.
During the litigation, JEMB claimed Shchegol used his wife, Alla Schegol, to make fraudulent transfers, ultimately allowing Shchegol to become judgment-proof.
In one case, Shchegol allegedly transferred four parcels of property in Staten Island to Alla for no value just before the court entered a default judgment against him, according to JEMB’s legal filings. Shchegol also sold a property in Florida for $5.5 million and directed those proceeds to his wife.
Further adding to the complexities, after almost 20 years of separation, Alla filed for divorce in New York in March 2023.
“It appears that the true purpose of formalizing the divorce is to facilitate the couple’s scheme by creating the veneer of separation between the two,” JEMB’s lawyers wrote in a filing.
This year, ASA College filed its own lawsuit against JEMB, along with its principal Joseph Jerome, alleging Jerome interfered with ASA’s business by telling ASA’s former accreditor that ASA was no longer paying rent. ASA claimed this led to the loss of its accreditation and total losses in excess of $100 million.
JEMB and Jerome’s lawyer responded in a legal filing by pointing to numerous headlines about ASA’s ongoing troubles.
“Unable to dig itself out of the mess it created for itself, ASA’s Complaint baselessly attempts to foist the consequences of its actions on to defendants,” JEMB’s lawyers stated.
Now the litigation has all been settled. ASA’s space at Herald Center has been replaced by Yeshiva University. Earlier this year, JEMB scored a $300 million refinancing for the property.
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