Business

Solow’s in Libor lather

Litigious landlord Sheldon Solow is suing a cadre of big banks caught up in an interest-rate rigging scandal for losses on a $450 million bond portfolio.

The real-estate developer and owner of 9 W. 57th St. filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court yesterday against Citigroup, Bank of America, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase and other firms being investigating for allegedly manipulating the benchmark interest rate known as Libor.

The suit requests a jury trial and treble damages under US racketeering statutes and state laws.

Solow claims that while he was current on his loans, the banks allegedly conspired to inflate Libor in 2008, rendering a bond portfolio he had provided as collateral to drop in value over a five-day period.

The suit details a margin call that paved the way for Citi to seize the portfolio under a “technicality,” to sell it for less than it was worth — including buying some of the bonds themselves — and to obtain a $100 million deficiency judgment against Solow, which he later paid.

“The bonds were sold in a fire sale when bond prices were in a trough,” according to the suit.

A spokesperson for Solow declined to comment.