Big donation to Rudy Giuliani defense fund is target of lawsuit alleging fraud by donor

• A lawsuit in Georgia is seeking the return of one of the biggest donations to the legal defense fund for Rudy Giuliani, who had been a top lawyer for former President Donald Trump.
• The suit argues that the $100,000 contribution by Matthew Martorano properly belongs to consumers who were defrauded with the help of software marketed by the donor and his business.
• A federal judge in January certified a nationwide class in a federal civil lawsuit against Martorano, his wife, a company called Konnektive LLC, and other corporate entities.
• Giuliani, Trump and other defendants are charged in a criminal case in Georgia with conspiracy in their efforts to reverse Trump's loss in the 2020 election in the state to President Joe Biden.

One of the largest donations to Rudy Giuliani's legal defense fund is at the center of a new lawsuit that argues the $100,000 contribution rightfully belongs to victims of an alleged online fraud scheme.

The donation by Matthew Martorano in September accounted for nearly 13% of all the money that Giuliani, the former attorney for Donald Trump and New York City mayor, raised in the fund.

The fund was intended to help Giuliani pay for lawyers in the Georgia election interference case — where Trump is a co-defendant — and in a civil defamation case that Giuliani lost, brought by two Georgia election workers.

But the plaintiff in the new civil suit — filed after CNBC reported on Martorano's donation earlier this year —claims that $100,000 flowed from Martorano's participation in an alleged online skincare product scam. They are seeking "to unwind" the donation to Giuliani.

There is no public evidence that Giuliani and Martorano know each other. CNBC has asked a spokesman for Giuliani if they did.

Still,