Avra Jain has allegedly evaded paying a former lawyer who won a $2.4 million judgment against her four years ago.
Last week, attorneys representing Robert Morgan and his Pittsburgh-based law firm, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. filed motions in Miami-Dade Circuit Court accusing Jain of transferring her interests in dozens of entities to her spouse, Migdalia “Dalia” Lagoa, in a concerted effort to conceal her assets. Morgan is also going after $15,435 in donations Jain made to the University of Miami to go toward paying the judgment.
Jain and Lagoa lead the Vagabond Group, a Miami-based development firm primarily known for owning and renovating several historic motels in the city’s MiMo District, a stretch of Biscayne Boulevard between Northeast 50th Street and Northeast 77th Street.
In 2020, Jain lost a malpractice lawsuit against Morgan, who is co-managing shareholder of Buchanan Ingersoll’s Miami and Fort Lauderdale offices. It alleged he and Buchanan Ingersoll provided bad legal counsel when she unsuccessfully sued a former partner who won a separate $8.2 million final judgement against one of her entities in 2017.
Since then, Jain has done everything possible to delay paying the Morgan judgment, said his attorney, Robert Stok. “We believe she can easily afford to pay,” Stok said. “She goes around town touting herself as a patron of charities and educational institutions and a successful developer when she is not honoring her obligations.”
Jain and her current lawyer, Robert Weil, did not respond to requests for comment.
Including attorney fees, costs and accrued interest, Jain now owes $3.6 million to Morgan and Buchanan Ingersoll, according to a Jan. 17 motion.
“At no time has Ms. Jain attempted to satisfy the judgments against her,” the motion states. “Instead, she engaged in deliberate efforts to attempt to put her assets beyond the reach of the judgment creditors, conceal the extent of her assets and wealth and challenge every step the judgment creditors have taken.”
Jain allegedly transferred her interests in 30 entities to Lagoa, and backdated the transference to 2018, two years before the judgment, the motion states. She has also allegedly ignored multiple requests for financial information, including bank and credit card statements.
In a separate Jan. 10 motion, Morgan and Buchanan Ingersoll are seeking to claim $15,435 “gifted” to the University of Miami. “It is our contention that the donation is a fraudulent conveyance from Jain to the university,” Stok told The Real Deal. “She is dragging institutions she is involved with into this. It is becoming a wide net.”
In addition to owning commercial properties in the MiMo District, Jain is a minority partner in a Miami River development site that is slated for a mixed-use project. The property’s majority owner is a joint venture between Los Angeles-based developer Zach Vella and Miami Beach-based private equity firm Arc PE.
Jain and Lagoa also own Factory Town, a former warehouse in Hialeah that the duo converted into an electronic dance music venue. Their entity, Factory Town Holdings, paid $10.5 million for the industrial property in 2021.
