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Trump Tower is reportedly seeking to evict a business school that was co-founded by Kardashian “momager” Kris Jenner after it allegedly failed to pay $1.04 million in back rent for its space in the swanky skyscraper.
The Trump Organization, the real estate holding company run by former President Donald Trump and his children, is suing Legacy Business School in Manhattan state court, according to the Commercial Observer.
Trump Tower is asking the court to dispatch a “sheriff or a New York City marshal” to evict the school for allegedly squatting in a section of the 19th floor after the Trump Organization canceled its lease earlier this summer, according to the report.
The Post has sought comment from Legacy Business School.
Legacy Business School, which used its Trump Tower location as a sales pitch, generated headlines in 2017 after the Daily Beast reported that New York state officials had sought to stop it from operating due to making false claims to students who paid a $105,000 tuition fee for a certificate.
The first 100 students who signed up for class were offered an “exclusive dinner” with Jenner.
The school’s website, which was recently taken down, featured a video in which Jenner, a co-founder who served on the school’s board, is seen touting its bona fides to prospective enrollees.
“Ambition is what drives us,” Jenner is seen saying in the promotional video. “Passion is what keeps us up at night. The impact we want to make? Now that’s what guides us to our success.”
State regulators said that while the school presented itself as a new institution, it was actually a rebranded version of the European School of Economics, a for-profit group that has been sued dozens of times since 2006 for allegedly making deceptive claims about its bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.
The New York State Department of Education said ESE never applied for proper permits to operate an accredited school claiming to hand out diplomas, according to the Daily Beast.
Jenner, who gained fame as the matriarch of the reality television-based Kardashian family, cut ties with Legacy in the wake of the Daily Beast’s reporting.
In 2010, Legacy signed a 20-year lease for office space at 725 Fifth Ave., the 58-story commercial and residential tower in Midtown Manhattan between East 56th and East 57th streets.
Months after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020, Legacy owed $198,000 in rent, according to the Washington Post.
Legacy investors revealed that the company was in arrears after they sued its founder, Alessandro Nomellini, for allegedly defrauding them by taking additional shares of the business.
According to court papers filed by the Trump Organization with the New York County Supreme Court, Legacy paid rent in October and November of last year. Since then, however, it hasn’t paid anything, it’s been alleged.
In April, Nomellini was ordered to leave the company and not set foot in its Trump Tower offices.
The Trump Organization, no stranger to litigation, was sued on Wednesday by the office of New York state Attorney General Letitia James for allegedly using fraudulent real estate valuations in order to secure loans and favorable tax benefits.
The former president and his family have denied the claims and accused James of waging a politically motivated campaign of retribution.