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FMB’s Ilan Kenig loses home to foreclosure, racks up $500K in credit card debt
Developer claims losses came from fraud orchestrated by ex-con Rabbi Pinto
A photo illustration of FMB Development’s Ilan Kenig and 1355 Berea Place in Pacific Palisades (Getty, Sotheby’s International Real Estate, FMB Development)
Ilan Kenig, the CEO behind FMB Development, has lost his home in Pacific Palisades to his lender — and allegedly owes more than $500,000 in unpaid credit card debt.
Kenig lost his 7,000-square-foot property at 1355 Berea Place to lender VIG Private Lending through a foreclosure, according to documents filed with Los Angeles County in February.
VIG foreclosed on the property for $627,400, records show. Kenig did not respond to a request for comment.
The foreclosure comes as Kenig is suing four former partners, including Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, once an adviser to high-profile New York real estate players who was convicted on bribery charges in Israel, claiming a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme that left Kenig with nothing but debt bills.
Kenig’s default on his home is one of many. He has filed for bankruptcy on at least six FMB multifamily projects, and has claimed in legal documents that “almost all” of FMB’s projects are in default. TRD reported on a Van Nuys project that filed Chapter 11 in November.
And last month, American Express sued Kenig, claiming he owes about $503,000 in credit card debt, court records show. Kenig did not respond to a request for comment.
Kenig bought the home in the Palisades for $2.35 million in 2016, records show, then used the property as collateral on a $5 million loan from Lone Oak Fund.
He was served a notice of default in August, claiming he owed about $90,000 under the loan.
FMB Development focuses on luxury residential projects, from single-family homes to multifamily, in “prime locations spanning from Venice to Downtown Los Angeles,” according to a 2017 press release. The company is based in Beverly Hills.