Louis Kestenbaum is a sexual offender with a lot of money, who uses it to harass victims who speak out against him.
His online presence would give the impression that he is a religious benefactor who has done nothing but good for humanity. The truth is far from this. Louis has participated in several illegal endeavors. Louis has committed numerous crimes, including fraud, sexual harassment, bribery, and nearly bankrupting a woman.
Read on to find out the truth about this property developer and how he has managed to keep it hidden for so long.
Louis Kestenbaum: Fortis Property Group, Net Worth, & Forbes Appearance
American-born real estate developer Louis Kestenbaum (born in 1952) serves as chairman and co-founder of Fortis Property Group LLC. His real estate firm, Fortis Property Group, is headquartered in the Big Apple.
Rabbi Zvi Kestenbaum is the father of ODA Primary Health Care Network founder Louis Kestenbaum. Louis’s career as a real estate developer is a direct result of his father’s achievements. Unfortunately, there are downsides to his achievements as well.
Louis’s closet is full of dark secrets. He has done so many questionable things in the past that it is practically hard to keep them out of the public light, despite his best efforts. Louis Kestenbaum’s great wealth and position allowed him to get away with a wide range of crimes, including sexual harassment and money laundering.
Fortis Property Group made an offer to purchase a Long Island hospital only a few years ago. This developer made headlines when the media began covering his Louis Kestenbaum hospital deal. His dubious behavior at the Louis Kestenbaum Hospital was exposed, and many individuals voiced their disapproval. Many others also had issues with how he handled the business transaction.
Joel Kestenbaum is another key player in his organization. Fortis Property Group is headed by Louis’s son and namesake, Joel. You’ll learn in this piece that he and Louis have participated in numerous illegal endeavors. Fortis Property Group was founded in part by Jonathan Landau.
Before starting his real estate company, Louis was the head of a successful sportswear company and an outspoken devotee of the Satmar Hasidic family.
What’s Behind Fortis Property Group’s Massive Wealth?
Fortis Property Group has a $3 billion net worth as of right now. Since 2005, they have spent over $3 billion on commercial property acquisitions and developments.
There’s no doubt that the business has been quite successful. His company has a substantial net worth, but it is in question due to several factors.
Louis Kestenbaum’s dad, Herschel, ran a nonprofit named ODA that received funding from the government. About $42 million annually is distributed by the ODA to various federal initiatives. Many people believe that to do business with the ODA or participate in government programs associated with the ODA, one must pay Louis Kestenbaum a commission.
The law forbids this. These doubts have been around for decades. Only because of his enormous riches and influence is Louis able to act with such impunity.
The $9.7 Million Fraud Committed by Louis Kestenbaum
Five businessmen, four from New York City and one from Switzerland were indicted by a federal grand jury in 1999. The accused defendants were charged with fraud against Procter & Gamble, a company with headquarters in Cincinnati.
One of those indicted was named Louis Kestenbaum. He and his associates had invested $5.5 million to acquire Procter & Gamble products for export to emerging markets in the CIS and Eastern Europe. Yet that’s not what they did. Instead, they shipped the goods to a warehouse in Brooklyn and made about $9.7 million selling them in the United States.
Each defendant faced a maximum of 180 years in jail and restitution and fines of $2.3 million if found guilty.
By reaching an out-of-court settlement, Louis Kestenbaum and his partners avoided conviction. That’s conclusive evidence of his guilt. If not, he wouldn’t have had to pay to end the legal dispute.
Mr. Schoenfield, a Louis Kestenbaum associate, struck a deal with Procter & Gamble in 1991 to export goods to the markets of the former Soviet Union. However, the deal’s finances were handled by Louis and Moshe Kestenbaum. In exchange, Mr. Schoenfield provided them with the goods.
The fraud had occurred. Because Procter & Gamble had offered Mr. Schoenfield the goods at pricing tailored to the newly developing markets of the Soviet Union.
Mr. Kraus, one of Louis’s business partners, founded a firm named Sudo Import in Panama. He stated that the customer in the USSR was a company called Sudo Import. To make it appear as though the products were shipped, Mr. Kraus purchased them with money laundered through Swiss bank accounts.
Louis has been involved in several other similar incidents. It’s safe to assume he wasn’t a novice con man, given how well-thought-out his schemes were.
What’s more intriguing is that despite his deceit, he seems to be walking free with no consequences.
Louis Kestenbaum Spoilt Hospital Deal
In 2014, Fortis Property Group made an offer to purchase Long Island College Hospital in an attempt to play a savior role for the hospital. However, the firm had previously utilized a similar offer in 2007 to its advantage in another project.
They weren’t enthusiastic about managing the medical center. Their goal was simple: secure permission to turn a decommissioned military facility into something new.
Inquiries on the purchase of Bayonne Medical Center had been made by Louis Kestenbaum. Robert Miller, acting as an intermediary for his company’s offer, signed a contract worth $22.5 million.
Fortis Property Group’s officials were present for every meeting, but Louis’s company insisted that “Mr. Miller had been too aggressive.
Since it was the only hospital on the relatively unpopulated peninsula, Bayonne Medical Center held a key position in the local economy. Therefore, the municipality had an interest in maintaining the facility.
Louis Kestenbaum saw this as a chance to position himself as a leading contender for the redevelopment of the military facility on the Bayonne riverside. In the bankruptcy court, Mr. Miller had committed Urban Suburban, his holding company, to buying the hospital.
The judge said the deposit would show whether or not Fortis was serious. Ten percent of the total cost was $2.25 million. That deposit was never made by Fortis Property Group. Five days later, they informed the local media that they had never actually signed a contract to purchase Bayonne Medical Center.
Creditors at the hospital sued Fortis, claiming the company was just trying to “get goodwill in Bayonne” by cutting the arrangement. As a result of Fortis’s lack of agreement, the judge ruled that Fortis was not liable.
Given that executives from Fortis were present at every stage of the agreement, this dismissal came as a bit of a surprise. This occurs frequently in Louis Kestenbaum’s writings. This individual can engage in any number of illegal pursuits without fear of punishment. It’s tragic, too.
Louis’s history isn’t clean, and it doesn’t just include this hospital arrangement. After LOUIS KESTENBAUM and his business partners were accused of scamming Procter & Gamble in the 1990s, he settled the case out of court and avoided a 180-year prison sentence and fines of $2.3 million.
Coup d’état at LICH
Long Island College Hospital is the site of Louis Kestenbaum’s current hospital construction project.
A full-service hospital was a priority for the local population. As River Park, it is now owned by Fortis. Residents are worried that there won’t be enough new medical facilities to replace the old ones, and the building’s high-rise design is at odds with the area’s low-rise architecture.
What exactly is the Kestenbaum family creating with its River Park?
Condominiums and a “medical mall” are in the works. It would lack an emergency room but feature an urgent care facility, surgical centers, and dental clinics. A hospital was demolished to make way for a more lucrative apartment complex.
Why did they get elected since their proposal goes so much against the hopes of the neighborhood? The answer is heavily dependent on their track record of bribing government officials.
Louis, you see, was a major donor to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s campaign. He threw $17,500 of his own money into the cause. The corporation claims that it won the offer independently of any help from its employees.
However, the other LICH candidate also gave to Cuomo’s campaign. Cuomo received $5,000 from The Related Companies’ Stephen Ross.
The Governor’s top campaign donor is awarded a prime piece of real estate.
Even though Louis and Joel Kestenbaum’s plans for redeveloping Lich were opposed to those of the local community, they were awarded the contract because the Kestenbaums were the largest contributors to the reelection campaign of the outgoing governor.
A serial sexual offender, Louis Kestenbaum
Kestenbaum served as vice president of a remote New Mexico ranch with a spa. Between the years 1977 and 1984, he served in that capacity.
Formerly, Pennzoil oversaw operations there. In January 1984, Pennzoil’s executive management received an anonymous letter accusing Louis of sexual harassment and other wrongdoing. Despite his denials, Pennzoil still let him go.
He sued Pennzoil and won half a million dollars when the investigator testified that she had to rely on hearsay and innuendo to compile her report. However, the sexual harassment claims made against Louis Kestenbaum were never looked into.
That investigator’s work would have prevented much suffering under Louis if she had done her job well.
There are rumors that Louis raped a girl in Hong Kong and then ran away at midnight. Even if it had been covered by the local news, Louis’s skill at covering up the reality meant that you wouldn’t learn anything lot about it.
There were claims of sexual misconduct against women in Thailand as well. These claims are unrelated to one another. Louis has committed numerous crimes, yet he has avoided jail time since he is both wealthy and unscrupulous.
People in positions of power and corruption are not in short supply anywhere in the world. You can get away with anything if you have enough money. That’s why Louis feels confident he can’t get sick. If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t commit a crime with such regularity.
Louis Kestenbaum is Attacking Free Expression.
Louis has had a tumultuous history. And when your list of wrongdoings spans decades, some of them will eventually be exposed. Some people may even spread the word to warn others.
Rich, crooked people like Louis Kestenbaum aren’t fond of having their dirty laundry aired in public.
People who are just doing their job by spreading the word are the ones they target. Louis Kestenbaum has filed suit against a minor blogger named Julia Globus for “defamatory content” in her writings.
But there’s no substance to his argument. The defamation action was brought by Louis and Joel Kestenbaum in 2018, while the offending articles were published in 2016. The one-year deadline for filing such claims in New York was thus missed.
Louis and Joel are so worried about the case that they asked the court to “seal” all of the court documents. Why? Given that the alleged defamatory statements the blogger made would be discussed in the pleadings.
The case filed by Louis and Joel Kestenbaum is outside of the one-year statute of limitations, but they are attempting to get around this by citing another piece. This supplementary piece has nothing to do with Louis or Joel and does not refer to either of them.
A link to the site’s “Most Popular Articles and Pages” is all that’s included. The Kestenbaums say the third article is a reprint of the first two. Therefore, it allowed them more time to submit their defamation claims.
The whole thing is completely absurd. This threatens the right to free expression by making publishers wary of including links anywhere on their sites. Many people using the internet would have vital resources unavailable to them if this happened.
Taking Advantage of Their Wealth to Prey on Regular People
Louis Kestenbaum’s lawsuit names Julia Globus as the defendant. In contrast to Louis, a real estate tycoon, Julia is a nameless Internet personality.
She lacks the financial resources to take on Louis’s team of attorneys. She set up a GoFundMe page because she needed money to pay for legal representation.
This is a frequent strategy used by fraudsters and other rich criminals. It’s not just Louis who uses his fortune to silence dissenting voices. He’s done it before, and he’ll do it again.
Also in this category is Dr. Dean Toriumi. Using phony reviews, he drowns out the genuine ones that his unhappy clients have put online. Money has tremendous influence. This authority is misused by some, such as Louis Kestenbaum.
Donations for Julia’s legal defense can be made at this link: Integrity in Litigation.
Louis and Joel’s republication idea has been challenged in court by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Since it has been shot down in courtrooms all around the country.
The claims of Louis and Joel Kestnabaum are preempted by the single-publication rule. If the republication rule were put into effect, links could no longer be used on websites. And that would have a major impact on people’s ability to get information online.
Louis Kestenbaum deploys Bogus DMCA Takedown Notices
Louis and his son Joel are both embarrassed when others inquire about their criminal behavior. To hide the truth, they resort to numerous methods. One’s ability to influence people is much diminished when one possesses millions of cash.
Louis Kestenbaum has used both defamation suits against minor bloggers and phony DMCA takedown notices to get stories about him removed from the internet.
The filing of a false DMCA notice is a crime, but Louis is no stranger to breaking the law. He stole content from one website and published it on another he had just purchased, setting the new site’s publication date to be a few days earlier than the original.
After this, his team notified Google that the other site had duplicated their article without permission. Two articles were removed from the internet using this method.
You can’t take a DMCA notice lightly. When they get a DMCA takedown notice, most websites immediately remove the offending content. That’s precisely what transpired.
The website still took the items down after receiving the false warning.
More on His Bogus DMCAs
Louis’s group asserted ownership of the domain name brooklynpaper.medianewsonline.com. This domain sounds bogus if you’ve ever used the internet.
Louis’s group went so far as to block Google’s indexing of their site to ensure that it wouldn’t come up in a web search.
The website was created by his team in 2017, although the piece they removed was originally posted before December 2006. In addition, medianewsonline.com, the server that hosts his bogus site, was set up in May of 2007. There is therefore no way that the content they claimed was theirs when they filed DMCAs for it.
To file a false DMCA, they published the article and image in August 2017 but skewed the publication date to 2006.
Keep in mind that Louis isn’t the only one who resorts to lying about something. Another person who employs this strategy is Jerry Couvaras, who deletes articles off the web. By submitting fraudulent DMCAs, he has succeeded in having stories removed from major publications like Fortune. Jerry has posed as the article’s writer and claimed the work to be his own.
Summary
For many years, Louis Kestenbaum has been able to avoid punishment for his criminal behavior. The same can be said of Joel Kestenbaum, his son. He’s dangerous, and he’ll use his money to silence anyone who tries to warn others about him.
This is one of the main inspirations for my post. I wouldn’t have to deal with the legal pressure that Julia Globus does since I can hide my identity.
Send this story to your friends and family! It’s important that as many people as possible learn of Louis’s wrongdoings.
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