Giuliani is warned of ‘draconian’ personal costs he faces over $148m fine at bankruptcy hearing

A judge in disgraced former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy case has not yet granted his creditors the ability to force him to sell his Palm Beach, Florida condo.

Mr Giuliani is in bankruptcy court after voluntarily filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December following a judge ordering him to pay a colossal penalty of $148m for defaming two Georgia election workers:Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. Now, his creditors are trying to figure out how to get the funds they are owed.

At a 4 April hearing in bankruptcy court, Judge Sean Lane heard arguments from lawyers for Mr Giuliani and the Committee of Unsecured Creditors after the committee filed a motion last month to compel the former mayor to sell his Florida condo.

The judge did not rule on this motion on Thursday.

Lawyers for the committee said they filed the motion because the committee is concerned about the debtor’s intentions, given his spending habits. One of the committee’s lawyers, Rachel Biblo Block, said Mr Giuliani spent $120,000 in January alone — roughly $30,000 of which was spent on maintenance for the condo.

Ms Block added that the committee is unable to determine if these fees are an anomaly or typical because the February spending report hasn’t been filed.

The committee’s team also pointed out that Mr Giuliani’s argument relied on the pending Freeman judgment; Mr Giuliani’s lawyers believe the amount could be reduced upon appeal.

“In order for the Freeman judgment to become a non-player here, the judgment would have to be reduced by over 95 per cent,” Ms Block said. But even then the numbers still don’t work and “you have to sell the Florida condo.”

So, it’s “unlikely that the judgment is going away,” she told the court. “We don’t see a