Floyd Mayweather, Jr, struck a hard line at The Real Deal’s NYC Forum when he defended close associate — and convicted felon — Jona Rechnitz amid recently reported allegations Rechnitz had stolen from former partners in previous business ventures.
Mayweather called him “one of the key pieces to the puzzle in today’s time that’s dealing with Vada Properties,” then expressed complete confidence in Rechnitz when questioned about his associate’s legal track record.
Rechnitz has been at Mayweather’s right hand through his blockbuster break into New York real estate and the launch of his firm Vada Properties. The undefeated world champion since October has invested $402 million in affordable housing, $100 million in luxury rentals, sunk his teeth into trophy office and bagged a big stake in the former Versace Mansion, now a Miami Beach luxury hotel.
“I trust Jona — not just 10 percent, 20 percent — 100 percent,” the professional athlete and less-seasoned real estate investor said on stage to audience applause and a few whistles.
Rechnitz pleaded guilty in 2016 to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud (he bribed NYPD officers), then served as a key cooperating witness to federal prosecutors in several high-profile corruption trials, including one into the NYPD.
He has not yet been sentenced and has not served jail time; his sentencing has been repeatedly postponed.
“Jona is my friend,” Mayweather said. “Whatever his case was, he dealt with it like a man, and we’re going to continue to do business.”
In 2019, Rechnitz called himself “a changed man” in correspondence with a U.S. District Court Judge. But more recent allegations complicate that narrative.
Days before Mayweather’s Forum appearance, The Atavist Magazine published a sweeping piece on Rechnitz’s decade of run-ins with the law. Critically, it reported a string of lawsuits filed in the 2020s alleging Rechnitz stole millions of dollars in jewelry consigned to Jadelle Jewelry and Diamonds, the firm he founded when he returned to his hometown of Los Angeles after the guilty plea.
In one such suit, jeweler Oved Anter — who had allegedly consigned $2.8 million in jewelry to Jadelle — framed the reported theft of the jewels as “one of Jona Rechnitz’s blazing trail of Ponzi scheme frauds.”
Rechnitz, who declined to comment for this article, told Atavist that the jewelry had gone missing after his office was robbed.
Oved dropped the case in 2021, about a year after filing it, according to court records.
Of the 13 suits filed against Rechnitz or his firms since he moved back to L.A., many have been settled, Atavist reported. In two suits, the court ruled against him, the publication reported.
When asked about the more recent allegations against Rechnitz, Mayweather stressed that his support was unwavering, then tried to redirect the conversation.
“We’re here to talk about real estate,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about no one’s criminal record; that’s not my business.”
Mayweather isn’t a complete newbie when it comes to real estate. Before his recent spending spree, he said he had invested in a number of SL Green office towers.
Still, he’s relatively green, even in his own estimation; ”I’m still learning about real estate,” Mayweather said at the Forum.
Rechnitz, meanwhile, has spent decades working in real estate. He worked in acquisitions in the late aughts, then opened his own firm, JSR Capital, in 2011. The Atavist characterized him as a man with broad connections.
It’s unclear what Rechnitz’s role is at Vada. He is not listed on the firm’s website. He has, however, acted as a spokesperson for Mayweather and has deep knowledge of the deals the former boxer has inked.
When asked if Rechnitz had helped Mayweather forge relationships with New York heavyweights — Meyer Orbach or 601W Companies, for example — the former boxer said his route in was “not just Jona.”
“I make certain connections because I’m not like any other athlete,” he said. He recently formed relationships with SL Green’s Andrew Mathias and Marc Holliday, as well as Wharton Properties’ Jeff Sutton, all without Rechnitz’s help.
The Atavist article published just a couple of weeks after a Business Insider reporter questioned whether Mayweather had done the $402 million multifamily deal, citing no public record that property had traded hands.
TRD debunked those claims: Mayweather had taken a stake in the deal, which doesn’t necessitate a deed transfer.
Still, the reporting sparked rumors that “Money” Mayweather was bankrupt. A YouTube video by the account Fighters Corner and entitled “Stephen A. Smith EXPOSES Floyd Mayweather For Going BANKRUPT After $402 Million SCAM” made the rounds, amassing over 450,000 views.
Despite the headline, the video shows only a snippet of Smith saying he is “disappointed in one of my all-time favorite fighters: my brother, Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather.” The rest is a B-roll mash-up of Mayweather or commentators discussing his money.
That is, the video offers no evidence of what the title claims.
Still, rapper 50 Cent shared it, fueling the fire. Though he later defended Mayweather.
Internet chatter aside, the claim is unsubstantiated.
Onstage, Mayweather pointed to his assets as proof of his financial health.
“If we call having two private jets, owning 100 buildings, being able to do what you want to do — if that’s bankrupt, then I’m pretty sure everybody wants to live like that,” he said.
BI and its reporter Daniel Geiger now face a defamation lawsuit from the world-famous athlete. BI said it would “vigorously defend against this meritless attempt to discredit our reporting and smear our reporter,” in a statement to Front Office Sports and reported by Sports Illustrated.
“This is my first time ever filing a lawsuit against a media company for speaking bad about my company,” Mayweather said at TRD’s Forum.
“I work hard to build my name, to build my reputation and I’m not gonna let anyone go out there and smear my name,” he said.