Mauricio Umansky is being sued for allegedly obtaining more than $3.5 million in fraudulent pandemic relief loans.
According to InTouch, Realtor LLC claimed in its July 2023 complaint that Umansky, 54, and his business partner, William “Billy” Rose, through their luxury real estate firm, The Agency, applied for and received two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and CARES Act loans totaling $3,521,153.
The program was designed to help prevent employee terminations by providing loans to businesses unable to pay their workers due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lawsuit accused Umansky’s company of “falsely” certifying their need for the loans to pay their employees.
Realtor LLC alleged in its filing that The Agency — which was showcased on the recently canceled Netflix reality show Buying Beverly Hills — was among many “large, profitable” companies that obtained their pandemic loans by “misrepresenting their financial situations, claiming their businesses were eligible when they were not, or … misrepresenting how the funds would be used.”
“In addition, the amounts they applied for and received exceeded the loan limit of 2.5 times monthly salary with a cap of $100,000 annual salary per employee,” the complaint claimed, adding that the men “later applied for and received full loan forgiveness, knowing they were ineligible for the loans in the first place.”
The filing argued that The Agency’s profits “would have been minimally impacted, if at all, because their revenue was based on a percentage of real estate transactions, typically between millionaires and billionaires, not consumers who were unable to buy goods or dine out because of the COVID-19 restrictions.”
In fact, the suit added the claim that the firm’s “business grew massively” during the pandemic, noting that its sales volume rose from $6 billion in 2019 to $6.5 billion in 2020 and “ballooned to $11.2 billion in 2021.”
A representative for The Agency denied the allegations, telling multiple outlets, “Like many companies, we faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including layoffs and cutbacks. The claims in this case do not reflect the reality of our operations and financial situation at the time we filed for our PPP loans, and we intend to vigorously defend against these meritless claims.”
Umansky is best known for his relationship with Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards. The couple split in July 2023 after 27 years of marriage. Although they have yet to file for divorce, they share daughters Alexia, 28, Sophia, 24, and Portia, 16. Umansky is also stepfather to Richards’ daughter Farrah, 35, whom she shares with ex-husband Guraish Aldjufrie.
After appearing on RHOBH for several seasons, Umansky starred in his own Netflix series, Buying Beverly Hills, which followed his work life at The Agency, a firm he founded in 2017. In the series, Umansky worked alongside his daughters, Farrah and Alexia.
