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Rudy Giuliani owes $40,000 in golf club membership fees, bankruptcy filings show

It comes after Mr Giuliani was ordered to ‘immediately’ pay more than $148m to a pair of Georgia election workers a jury determined he defamed

Martha McHardy
Tuesday 06 February 2024 17:40 GMT
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SNL mocks Rudy Giuliani after $148m defamation case

Donald Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani owes almost $40,000 in golf club membership fees, according to bankruptcy filings.

Court documents show Mr Giuliani owes $38,520 in unpaid membership fees to Emerland Dunes Country Club, based in West Palm Beach, Florida. The claim is listed as “disputed”.

He also owes $647 to Trump International Golf Club, according to the documents.

Mr Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in December, days after a federal judge ordered him to “immediately” pay more than $148m to a pair of Georgia election workers a jury determined he defamed in a decision he called “absurd”.

Following the defamation ruling, Mr Giuliani raised more than $700,000 from 13 donors — including friends of Mr Trump — to help pay off his legal fees, an FEC filing showed. He also listed a claim against the former president, whom he represented in a string of unsuccessful lawsuits contesting the results of the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden, for unpaid legal fees.

But despite his efforts, Mr Giuliani, who is estimated to have a net worth of around $50m, has been unable to avoid bankruptcy court.

Filings show he still owes over $387,000 in unpaid legal fees to the law firm he hired in 2021 after the FBI raided his apartment, among other credit card and tax bills, as well as money he owes from other lawsuits.

Donald Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani owes $40,000 in golf club membership fees, according to bankruptcy filings (AP)

The filing lists 20 claimants, whose claims total more than $152m combined. In previous filings, Mr Giuliani said he had as many as 49 creditors and owed between $100m and $500m.

Mr Giuliani has been embroiled in several lawsuits, all of which are listed in the bankruptcy filings. Last year, he was sued for $2m by Daniel Gill, a New York man who was charged with assault after he slapped Mr Giuliani on the back and asked, “What’s up, scumbag?”

Meanwhile, Mr Giuliani’s longtime lawyer, Robert Costello, lodged a lawsuit against him last year, claiming $1.36m in unpaid fees.

He was also sued by BST & Co. CPAs, LLP, an accounting firm based in Latham, New York, for $10,000, who alleged that Mr Giuliani had the company conduct an appraisal of his business interests while he separated from his wife, Judith Nathan, without paying them.

Other claimants listed include Momentum Telecom, who took Mr Giuliani’s consulting firm, Giuliani Partners LLC, to court over an unpaid phone bill. They are claiming $30,000, according to court documents.

Mr Giuliani’s bankruptcy case adds to a growing pile of legal obstacles he faces, including a pending lawsuit from voting systems company Smartmatic, a lawsuit from Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, and a sprawling criminal case in Atlanta, where he is charged alongside the former president and more than a dozen others for joining a “criminal enterprise” to unlawfully overturn Georgia’s election results.

He is also an unnamed and unindicted co-conspirator in the federal election conspiracy case against Mr Trump for his attempts to reverse his loss to Joe Biden.

The Independent has contacted a spokesperson for Mr Giuliani for comment.

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