Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. has filed a lawsuit against his former business advisor, Jona Rechnitz, accusing him of stealing at least $175 million in cash, real estate, jewelry, and the proceeds from the sale of a Gulfstream G-IV private jet. The complaint, filed Thursday evening in Manhattan County Supreme Court, alleges a multi-year fraudulent scheme carried out with the help of two associates.
Allegations of Betrayal
Mayweather's attorney, Leo Jacobs, told The Independent, “As they say, the gloves are off. The complaint speaks for itself.” The lawsuit follows a court ruling ordering Mayweather to pay nearly $1 million in back child support, plus $33,000 a month, to a dancer at his Las Vegas strip club with whom he fathered a four-year-old daughter. Last month, Mayweather and Rechnitz were jointly sued for allegedly failing to pay a $100,000 private jet bill after a flight to the Caribbean.
Rechnitz, a New York City real estate developer who was convicted on federal bribery charges in 2016 and sentenced to five months in prison and five months of house arrest, did not respond to requests for comment. Calls to his cell phone went straight to voicemail.
Background of the Relationship
According to the complaint, Mayweather, 49, is an undefeated professional boxer with a 50-0 record across five weight classes but has no formal post-secondary education or training in finance, accounting, real estate, or commercial law. He relied on advisors, attorneys, accountants, and managers to handle his financial affairs.
In 2017, Rechnitz, now 43, began cultivating a relationship with Mayweather after being introduced by a mutual acquaintance. Rechnitz presented himself as a highly sophisticated real estate investor and soon involved himself in the champion's personal and business affairs. Mayweather was unaware that Rechnitz had a fraud conviction on his record, or of a civil fraud judgment entered against him in a case involving Hollywood producer Victor Noval.
Over the next several years, Rechnitz insinuated himself deeper into Mayweather's affairs, and by 2024 had assumed the de facto role of Mayweather's investment manager, real estate advisor, and banking liaison.
Public Trust and Private Theft
At a New York real estate forum in May 2025, Mayweather told the audience, “I trust Jona – not just 10 percent, 20 percent – 100 percent. Jona is my friend. Whatever his case was, he dealt with it like a man, and we’re going to continue to do business.” Yet, according to the complaint, Rechnitz was quietly pilfering millions from Mayweather even as the champ defended him in public.
On July 1, 2024, Rechnitz convinced Mayweather to put $7.5 million into an investment deal that he said would generate a handsome profit within 12 months. However, the complaint alleges the purported deal was a lie. “No investment was made. No return was paid. No documentation of any underlying investment has been provided to [Mayweather]. The principal has not been returned.”
That same month, Rechnitz took out a $13 million loan on Mayweather's behalf, secured by a property Mayweather owned in Miami Beach. Of that, $6.5 million went to the purchase of a 1996 Gulfstream G-IV, while $4 million went to Mayweather's boxing promotions firm. The jet was sold some 18 months later, but Mayweather “does not know who acquired the aircraft” and claims he “has received no accounting of the proceeds — less than one-third of the loan proceeds.”
Continued Alleged Theft
In October 2024, Rechnitz took out $16.4 million in cross-collateralized loans secured by liens on four properties Mayweather owned. While $2.5 million of the loan proceeds was wired to Mayweather Promotions, nearly $9 million went to an LLC run by one of Rechnitz's associates. Mayweather has “never received an adequate explanation” about why the funds went there.
As 2024 came to an end and 2025 got underway, Rechnitz steered Mayweather into a commercial real estate deal for $27 million, which required a $1 million deposit to guarantee the purchase. However, Rechnitz instead sent the money to a jeweler in Manhattan, and the purported property acquisition fell through. “No funds were returned.”
Mayweather unwittingly lost another $2.1 million in proceeds from a property refinancing Rechnitz orchestrated, and roughly $15 million more from a settlement with a New York real estate developer, when Rechnitz diverted the proceeds to himself without Mayweather's knowledge.
Brazen Jewelry Pledge
In August 2025, four months after Mayweather professed his total confidence in Rechnitz's integrity, Rechnitz pledged $100 million worth of Mayweather's jewelry to a pair of Miami dealers as collateral for $13 million in loans. None of that money, which amounted to less than 14 percent of the value of the pieces, went to Mayweather, and he was never provided any accounting of the transactions. The set included several Rolex watches, multiple watches by Jacob & Co., a diamond necklace, gold chains, and numerous other items, as shown in a handwritten list filed in court.
When the loans came due and were not repaid, one of the jewelers texted Mayweather and Rechnitz, demanding his money. The message read: “Hi Floyd, I have put Jona in this message because I will not speak to him on a one-on-one level. I have to inform you that on Friday[,] if I do not receive a large payment on monies due[,] I will start to liquidate the merchandise.” Rechnitz replied, “Agreed thx.” However, the complaint says Rechnitz “had no authority from Mr. Mayweather to authorize any such liquidation,” and a “substantial portion” of the jewelry remains in hock.
Recent Alleged Siphoning
As recently as January 2026, Rechnitz was still siphoning vast amounts from Mayweather, according to the complaint, which accuses him of taking 20 percent of the distributions generated by an Upper Manhattan real estate portfolio Mayweather owns, “on a recurring basis.”
“The constructive fiduciary relationship imposed on Rechnitz the duties of loyalty, candor, care, and good faith owed to Mr. Mayweather and the… entities controlled by him,” the complaint states. Rechnitz breached his fiduciary duty to Mayweather, who is now seeking damages of “not less than $175,000,000,” plus “disgorgement of all benefits received by Rechnitz in connection with his breaches and… an award of punitive damages.”
Rechnitz now has roughly 21 days to file a response to Mayweather's allegations.
