Citi Sued for Seizing French Riviera Villas of NYC ‘Taxi King’

Citigroup Inc. was hit with a lawsuit accusing it of bigfooting other creditors in seizing two French Riviera villas owned by the late New York businessman who once dominated the city’s taxi medallion trade.

The creditors said in their suit that the $25 million Evgeny “Gene” Freidman owed them at the time of his 2021 death had priority over his $31.5 million Citigroup debt with regard to personal property. But they said the bank ignored their interests when it secretly obtained a court order in Monaco giving it control of the villas in the exclusive enclave of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

Residential apartment buildings beyond sailing boats and yachts moored in the harbor in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France.

Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

Though ...