Richard Weaver-Bey, president of a once prominent real estate management company, is suing two former business partners for allegedly misusing his company for personal gain.
Weaver-Bey, who is listed as the president of Greater Hartford Realty Management, claims that Jason Ziegler and John Reveruzzi, two local businessmen and developers, misappropriated extensive funds “directly or indirectly to their personal benefit” after taking on a partnership with Weaver-Bey.
Weaver-Bey refused to elaborate when contacted, but the legal complaint goes on to say that Ziegler and Reveruzzi misappropriated “hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars” from properties under Greater Hartford Realty’s management, including causing mortgage defaults, utility defaults and other problems.
Greater Hartford Realty once managed more than 2,500 units in Hartford, and in 2005 listed revenue of $8 million and claimed 59 employees. But Weaver-Bey encountered legal and financial troubles of his own, which appears to be when Ziegler and Reveruzzi stepped in. They bought an interest in the company several years ago, and since then Greater Hartford Realty has racked up more than $200,000 in unpaid state taxes, putting it on the Department of Revenue Services’ list of top 100 delinquent taxpayers in the state. In addition, other liens were placed against the company for unpaid gas and utility bills at several multi-family residences.
As of this summer, the company only managed only about 150 units, Weaver-Bey said at the time. It’s unclear as to whether the company continues to manage rental units, or if it does, who exactly is in charge of the company.
Weaver-Bey’s suit against Ziegler and Reveruzzi claimed funds and properties weren’t just mishandled directly through the two of them under the company name: other businesses and business associates, such as Hartford Housing Limited and Sovereign Asset Management, controlled these properties as alter egos of Ziegler and Reveruzzi.
Filed with Hartford Superior Court, Weaver-Bey’s lawsuit also alleges that he has been sued because of Ziegler and Reveruzzi’s misdeeds. More than 50 properties are listed in the court filing as having been affected by Ziegler and Reveruzzi.
When contacted about the lawsuit, Reveruzzi said that he had no information about the properties. He also declined to comment about the specifics of the lawsuit and dismissed its importance, stating, “Everybody has lawsuits in business.”
