Photos • Biography • Facebook • Twitter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chaim Schochet
Born1986 or 1987 (age 37–38) [1]
EducationB.A. Rabbinical College of America
OccupationReal estate executive
Known forExecutive of Optima Ventures
SpouseRachel Schochet
Children3

Chaim Schochet (born 1986/87) is an American real estate executive, developer, and manager at Optima Ventures, once the largest holder of real estate in Downtown Cleveland.

Early life

Schochet was born to a Jewish family in Miami Beach, Florida, [1] He attended the Rabbinical College of America in Miami, New York City, and Toronto where he graduated with a degree in Judaic studies in 2006. [1]

Optima

After spending a year in Singapore traveling and volunteering, he returned to Florida and accepted a job at Optima Ventures, a real estate investment firm 1/3 owned by Optima International of Miami (co-founded by Schochet's brother-in-law Mordechai "Motti" Korf and Uri Laber), and 2/3 owned by the principals of the Privat Group, one of Ukraine's largest business and banking groups [1] founded by oligarchs Hennadiy Boholyubov and Ihor Kolomoyskyi. Korf and Laber owned 7% of the shares in PrivatBank Latvia, [2] a majority-owned subsidiary of PrivatBank headquartered in the Ukraine.

As investment executive of Optima Ventures, Schochet presided over the acquisition of a number of properties in Cleveland, Ohio including One Cleveland Center (purchased for $86.3 million in 2008); [3] [4] 55 Public Square (purchased for $34 million in 2008); [3] the Huntington Bank Building (purchased for $18.5 million in 2010); [5] [6] and the Penton Media Building (purchased for $46.5 million in 2010). [7] In September 2011, Optima purchased PNC Plaza in Louisville, Kentucky for $77 million. [8] In October 2011, Optima entered its first joint venture, buying the 472-room Crowne Plaza Cleveland City Centre hotel with Sage Hospitality Resources, a hotel developer and manager based in Colorado. [9] In September 2014, Schochet and Chip Marous proposed a $231 million renovation of the Huntington Bank Building, the second largest office building in the city, into a mixed-used facility combining offices, apartments, condominiums and a boutique hotel; [10] the renovation did not come to fruition and Optima sold the building to Hudson Holdings LLC for $22 million in 2015. [11] He has also made acquisitions outside of Cleveland including the 2008 purchase of the 1.5 million square foot former Motorola manufacturing facility in Harvard, Illinois. [12] [13]

As of 2012, Optima Ventures owned more than 5 million square feet of real estate in the United States [1] and was the largest holder of real estate in Downtown Cleveland surpassing Forest City Enterprises. [1] Schochet describes himself as: "a long-term investor interested in any property that produces a healthy income." [14]

Lawsuit

In March 2016, PrivatBank Ukraine reduced its stake in PrivatBank Latvia to 46.5 percent removing it from the jurisdiction of Ukrainian regulators. [15] In December 2016, PrivatBank was nationalized by the Ukrainian government which required a $5.5 billion bailout in order to save it from collapse. [2] In 2018, PrivatBank was sold to private investors and in May 2019, the new owners filed a civil lawsuit in Delaware accusing Schochet, Korf, Laber, Boholyubov, and Kolomoyskyi with laundering up to $470 million in monies heavily relying on PrivatBank Latvia as a conduit. [2] [16] Schochet was identified as being the "front man" in an illegal scheme with Optima, which was accused in the lawsuit of " financial crimes and money laundering" involving "hundreds of millions of dollars worth of U.S. assets — including major real estate holdings in downtown Cleveland." [2] [17] [18] In 2020, the FBI raided offices of Optima in Cleveland and Miami, in an ongoing investigation. [19] [20] The attorney for Schochet, Korf, and Laber, Marc Kasowitz, stated that the lawsuit is "100% false and defamatory... and is "nothing more than a fictional orchestrated political attack" on his clients who vocally opposed President Trump at the time. [2] Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani commented that it should have been obvious that money laundering was occurring as Optima was overpaying for real estate and then selling at a loss. [21]

Personal life

Schochet is a practitioner of Chabad Judaism. [1] [22] He is married to Rachel Schechter; they have three children and live in Miami Beach. [1] [23]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h McFee, Michelle Jarboe (February 4, 2012). "The most important guy you've never heard of: Chaim Schochet, 25, builds downtown Cleveland empire". The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
  2. ^ a b c d e Boigon, Molly (February 21, 2020). "They gave $25 million to Jewish nonprofits. Was some of that money laundered from Ukraine?". The Forward.
  3. ^ a b "Optima International Purchases More Cleveland Property". Blumberg Capital. 2008.
  4. ^ McFee, Michelle Jarboe (May 16, 2008). "One Cleveland Center sold for $86 million". The Plain Dealer. cleveland.com - Cleveland Live LLC. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  5. ^ Bullard, Stan. "Huntington Building in downtown Cleveland sold to Florida's Optima International". Crain's Cleveland Business.
  6. ^ McFee, Michelle Jarboe (March 29, 2010). "Optima could add Huntington Building to its downtown Cleveland portfolio". The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
  7. ^ McFee, Michelle Jarboe (August 17, 2010). "Optima pays $46.5 million for Penton Media building in downtown Cleveland". The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
  8. ^ Karman III, John (2011-09-30). "Florida firm buys PNC Plaza for $77 million". Business First Louisville. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  9. ^ McFee, Michelle Jarboe (October 6, 2011). "Crowne Plaza in downtown Cleveland sold; Optima, Sage plan $64 million overhaul as a Westin hotel". The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
  10. ^ Bullard, Stan (September 9, 2014). "Former Huntington Building would be revamped as mixed-use development in $231 million project". Crain's Cleveland Business.
  11. ^ Bullard, Stan (June 16, 2015). "Former Huntington Building to undergo $280 million transformation into mixed-use property". Crain's Cleveland Business.
  12. ^ Long, Jeff; Starks, Carolyn (August 15, 2008). "Motorola campus in Harvard has a buyer - Miami-based real estate investment firm looking at plans to lease shuttered facility". The Chicago Tribune.
  13. ^ Adkins, Lenore T. (August 14, 2008). "Miami firm buys former Motorola plant in Harvard". The Daily Herald.
  14. ^ McFee, Michelle Jarboe (July 10, 2008). "55 Public Square sells to buyer bullish on Cleveland". The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
  15. ^ Kozyreva, Tanya; Sallah, Michael (September 22, 2020). "With Deutsche Bank's help, an oligarch's buying spree trails ruin across the US heartland". International Consortium of American Journalists.
  16. ^ "VERIFIED COMPLAINT", May 21, 2019.
  17. ^ Ron Regan (August 4, 2020). "Company targeted in FBI raid in Downtown Cleveland embroiled in separate lawsuit alleging fraud; Delaware lawsuit alleges "financial crimes and money laundering"". WEWS.
  18. ^ CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H7910, September 25, 2019.
  19. ^ Allard, Sam (August 4, 2020). "FBI Raiding Cleveland Properties Owned by Ukrainian Oligarchs". Cleveland Scene. Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  20. ^ DUBELKO, SKYLAR (August 6, 2020). "FBI searches Optima Management offices in Cleveland, Miami". Cleveland Jewish News.
  21. ^ Trubek, Anne (January 14, 2020). "How Did Alleged Ukrainian Money Launderers Buy Up Downtown Cleveland?". Belt Magazine.
  22. ^ "Cleveland, OH - Orthodox Man Builds Ohio Real Estate Empire", Vos Iz Neias, February 6, 2012
  23. ^ "L'Chaim: Schochet - Schechter", Col Live, April 20, 2010.
Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Chaim_Schochet&oldid=1186587496"