‘Hummus hunk’ faces sex assault charges alongside real-estate mogul brothers
Ohad Fisherman, a close friend of the embattled Alexander brothers, is presently in Japan on his honeymoon, his attorney said in court on Friday
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Your support makes all the difference.An Israeli-American real estate mogul once dubbed the “Hummus Hunk” is facing felony charges for allegedly participating in at least one gruesome sexual assault amid a years-long rape spree prosecutors say three South Florida brothers began carrying out while they were still in high school.
Ohad Fisherman is set to be arraigned on Wednesday, the day after he and his new wife return from his honeymoon in Japan, his lawyer said in court Friday morning. Fisherman, 38, is a close friend of Oren and Tal Alexander, who are known for their “ultra-luxury” real estate empire, and a third Alexander sibling, Alon, who runs the family’s private security company, according to authorities.
Twins Oren and Alon, 37, along with Tal, 38, were arrested earlier this week and are facing federal sex trafficking charges that could put them away for 15 years to life if convicted; Oren and Alon were also charged in state court for first-degree sexual battery, as was Fisherman.
A civil lawsuit filed Thursday in New York State Supreme Court by one accuser, identified only as “Jane Doe,” includes stomach-turning allegations about one alleged incident involving the twins and Fisherman on December 31, 2016. (Doe’s allegations mirror portions of the criminal charges brought in Florida, where court records identify her as “M.W.”)
Doe met Alon Alexander that fall, via Bumble, an online dating app, according to the lawsuit, which The Independent reviewed in its entirety. It says the two “developed a brief and casual relationship,” and saw each other a handful of times. Doe went to Florida to visit family and friends for the holidays, and got a text from Alon while there, the suit explains. When he invited Doe to a barbeque at an oceanfront condo in Miami Beach, and sent a photo of several others seemingly enjoying themselves poolside, Doe’s suit says she gladly accepted.
However, once she arrived, Doe discovered she was the only guest, the lawsuit goes on. Alon brought her up to a plush apartment, where he introduced her to Oren and Fisherman, who he described as a “cousin,” according to the suit.
“Within a few minutes, Alon led [Doe] into a bedroom, Oren and Fisherman followed quickly behind, the door was shut and locked behind them,” the suit continues. “Alon and Oren then engaged in a demonic discussion about which brother would be the first to rape [Doe].
Oren, according to the lawsuit, “apparently prevailed in that conversation and put on a condom while Alon went and sat on a chair in the corner to watch.” It says Fisherman then “grabbed [Doe] from behind and pinned her shoulders down while Oren forcibly… raped [Doe], ignoring [her] tears and pleas for him to stop.”
Unable to fight back, Doe says in her suit that she “instinctively started pretending to enjoy the rape, as she had previously heard a rapist may stop if the victim acts like they are enjoying the rape.”
“It worked, shortly thereafter Oren stopped and angrily exclaimed ‘f**k this,’ as he threw his condom on the ground and stormed out of the bedroom,” the lawsuit contends.
Alon then assaulted Doe, and when he was done, “attempted to force [Doe] to perform sexual acts on Fisherman, threatening that she needed to do so in order to leave.” But Doe, who was now crying uncontrollably, successfully appealed to Alon, who instead “forced [Doe] to shower,” according to the suit. It says Doe then left and called an Uber, “forever changed.”
The Alexander brothers have attained a degree of semi-celebrity through their business dealings, and Fisherman has made something of a name for himself, as well. He brokered the sale of a $17 million apartment occupied at the time by Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, President-elect Donald Trump’s daughter and son-in-law, and is regularly written up in the real estate press after major transactions. But it was the 2013 launch of his own line of gourmet hummus that cemented his personal brand as the so-called Hummus Hunk.
“Hummus Joonam’s founder and Chickpea-puree-er-in-Chief is Ohad Fisherman, a handsome 30-year-old Israeli real estate broker (and he’s single, I think, for any interested parties out there!), who comes from a long line of hummus royalty: his father is the owner of the landmark Tel Aviv restaurant Mifgash HaSteak, purveyor of some of the city’s best since 1965,” read a 2016 profile in the online magazine Tablet, titled “New York’s Hummus Hunk.”
“Hashem [God] wants me to do the hummus,” Fisherman told The Times of Israel. “... American hummus doesn’t even taste like hummus. It has too many spices and its texture is all wrong. It’s too heavy. You can’t even eat it without bread.”
Fisherman’s hummus, which is no longer available, cost $10 for an 8-ounce tub. In a comment to the New York Post in 2016 about Fisherman’s product, Oren Alexander said, “I’ve heard from women that Joonam is an aphrodisiac,” says NYC real estate broker Oren Alexander. “I’m not sure if they are referring to the hummus or Ohad.”
On Thursday, Oren and Alon Alexander were denied bail by a Miami-Dade County judge, but were granted pre-trial release on Friday morning after their father put up his $40 million home as collateral, their attorney Joel Denaro told The Independent. Still, since a federal hold on the pair remains in place, Denaro said they will remain behind bars until further notice.
Tal Alexander, who is also represented by Denaro, is expected to appear at his own bail hearing in federal court on Friday afternoon.