An Emmy-award winning journalist claims in a lawsuit her $6 million tropical mansion was sold out from under her by a sleazy auctioneer.
Cathleen Trigg-Jones, who launched iWomanTV and won an Emmy in 2003 for education reporting while at WWOR in New York City, slammed Concierge Auctions in Florida for what she called “blatant misogyny,” according to a $10 million lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal Court.
Trigg-Jones, 57, and her doctor husband Michael Jones bought the four-bedroom, four-bath beachfront townhouse in exclusive Bahia Beach Resort & Golf Club just outside San Juan in 2014.
The 4-204-square-foot property features cathedral ceilings, French doors, multiple walk-in closets and a private plunge pool, according to a real estate listing which pegs the value of the property at $5.9 million.
Michael Jones contacted Concierge about selling the property but Trigg-Jones alleged she had immediate doubts.
“Concierge seemed to Mrs. Jones to be running a scam,” she said in the Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit, adding the Florida-based outfit appears to sell “to Concierge’s own cabal of bidders, through non-market auctions, for amounts significantly less than a fair market value.”
“Apparently, this auctioneer doesn’t think a woman should have the right to review a contract separate and apart from her husband,” Trigg-Jones said in the legal filing.
Even though Michael Jones notified the auction company that his wife was reviewing the agreement with an attorney and had not signed, Concierge allegedly held an auction in March anyway, “selling” the home for $4.2 million, according to the complaint and Trigg-Jones’ attorney.
Then it allegedly ruined her rep by having its agents tell neighbors and real estate professionals she reneged on the deal, she claimed in the suit.
Trigg-Jones “never entered into an agreement with Concierge for the sale of her property,” she said in the lawsuit.
The “purported buyer,” hedge funder Michael Nachmani, “has threatened to sue Mrs. Jones and is demanding that she close on the purported auction sale,” she said in the lawsuit.
She wants a judge “to step in to clarify her rights and to award her damage resulting from the harm to her reputation which the auction company has already caused and continues to cause.”
“I have dedicated my life and career to fighting for women’s rights and equality. When Concierge Auctions tried to bypass me, and sell my home without my signature, my consent, or legal review, I was shocked,” Trigg-Jones said in a statement.
“Even as an equal owner, I was treated as if my voice and my rights don’t matter. This is not just illegal, it’s unethical — misogyny, plain and simple, and it is an insult to every woman who’s ever had to fight for respect.”
Nachmani declined comment.
In response to a request for comment, Concierge claimed Michael Jones had signed an auction agreement and given his permission to launch the auction.
Trigg-Jones’ accusations are an “intentionally incomplete false and misleading narrative,” Concierge alleged.
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