Whether it’s refining your business model, mastering new technologies, or discovering strategies to capitalize on the next market surge, Inman Connect New York will prepare you to take bold steps forward. The Next Chapter is about to begin. Be part of it. Join us and thousands of real estate leaders Jan. 22-24, 2025.
Embattled luxury broker Oren Alexander and his twin brother, Alon Alexander, are set to remain in custody following a court appearance in Miami on Friday, the Miami Herald reported.
Oren and Alon and their older brother, Tal, were arrested on Dec. 11, 2024, in Miami and were federally charged with sex trafficking and conspiring to commit sex trafficking. Oren and Alon are also facing state charges in Florida for three separate alleged incidents of sexual battery against women in 2016, 2017 and 2021.
All three brothers have denied the charges against them, asserting through their attorneys that any sex was consensual.
The twin brothers had been seeking bond for charges of sex trafficking and gang rape, but federal prosecutors determined on Friday that they are a flight risk and a danger to the community. Instead, they will remain in federal custody at least until their detention hearing, which Judge Ellen D’Angelo scheduled for Dec. 30. From there, the brothers will be transferred to federal court in New York City with Tal.
Oren and Alon had reached a bond agreement with state officials (a combined $5 million bond backed by their father’s house and a $25,000 personal surety bond for each brother), but it could not be executed unless the brothers were fully bonded out from all jurisdictions holding them, including the feds. On Thursday, Circuit Court Judge Lody Jean had set a tentative trial date for the sexual battery charges of March 10, 2025.
Fed opposes Tal Alexander’s bid to reopen detention hearing
Assistant United States attorneys for the federal government on Thursday filed an opposition to Tal Alexander’s motion to reopen his detention hearing after he was denied bond last week and urged the court to deny the luxury broker’s request.
On Monday, lawyers for Tal filed a motion to reopen his detention hearing, presenting a more robust bond package from Tal’s parents “in any amount secured by the entirety of their assets.”
The motion also argued that the hearing should be reopened because the government never produced Jencks Act material, or written or recorded statements from a government witness made in advance of a trial, which are supposed to be presented after the witness’ testimony.
Thirdly, the motion pushed back at the government’s assertion that Tal posed a flight risk, given his wealth and family ties to Israel. Lawyers for Tal argued that the luxury broker had no risk of flight, had not been to Israel in three years and pushed back against the government’s claim that, if he fled to Israel, they would not be able to extradite him.
In the government’s reply to Tal’s motion filed on Thursday, Assistant United States attorneys said, “The Motion should be denied in its entirety. None of the reasons cited in the Motion constitute ‘new evidence’ warranting the Court to reconsider or reopen the detention hearing.”
The reply argues that adequate evidence still existed showing Tal is a flight risk, and that his attorneys’ request for the government to provide Jencks Act material was not a basis for reopening the hearing, calling such a request a “fishing expedition” and “pretext for reopening bail.” It further argues that Tal had “ample opportunity” to convey the full scope of his family’s wealth before proposing a bond package.
Replies to the motion are due by Dec. 26, 2024.
Ohad Fisherman surrenders to authorities
On Wednesday, Ohad Fisherman, an alleged conspirator of the Alexander brothers and former agent at Official, surrendered to authorities in his state sexual battery case after returning early from his honeymoon in Japan.
Fisherman has been charged by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office with one count of sexual battery in relation to the 2016 incident in which he allegedly helped Oren and Alon rape a women in Miami.
Fisherman, known as a family friend of the Alexanders, has not been named in the federal indictment against the brothers.
Jeffrey Sloman, a lawyer representing Fisherman, said he “vehemently denies” the allegations after the hearing on Wednesday.
Fisherman agreed to a $260,000 personal surety guaranteed by his wife and mother-in-law and a $25,000 corporate surety from Roy Zemlock of Bail Miami, the same bondsman who granted Oren and Alon each a $25,000 corporate surety. He will also be fitted with an ankle monitor and has agreed to surrender his Israeli and American passports.
Fisherman moved to the U.S. from Israel in 2012 and just became a U.S. citizen last year. He launched his own brokerage called The Fisherman Group in October.
Get Inman’s Luxury Lens Newsletter delivered right to your inbox. A weekly deep dive into the biggest news in the world of high-end real estate delivered every Friday. Click here to subscribe.