NY porn king must pay Philly slumlord's heirs $10M+

Richard Basciano, the multimillionaire real estate investors the New York Times once called "the undisputed king of Times Square porn," must pay the heirs of the late Philadelphia landlord Samuel Rappaport more than $10 million in refunds, fees and interest, and properties worth millions more, Bucks County Orphans' Court Judge C. Theodore Fritsch Jr. ruled in a decree Aug. 27.

Both sides have appealed to Pennsylvania Superior Court. Basciano's lawyer, John A. Guernsey of Conrad O'Brien P.C., was not available for comment this afternoon.

UPDATE: The Rappaports' lawyers, Ronald J. Shaffer and Eric Wood of Fox Rothschild LLP, said in a statement:  "Wil Rappaport, President of Samson Asset Management, Inc., expresses his gratitude to the Orphans' Court that their long efforts to obtain justice and reclaim property belonging to Sam Rappaport have been successful," adding the case "should serve as a warning" to estate executors that they "cannot put their own self-interest ahead of the beneficiaries."

EARLIER: The payments stem from the years Basciano managed his friend Rappaport's estate, which included former Reading Railroad properties, the former PSFS Building and other vacant and decaying Center City landmarks, Atlantic City's sewer system, parking garages, a Florida resort, and a prime building site adjoining the University of Delaware, from Rappaport's death in 1994, until Basciano was removed as executor by court order in 2002.

According to the decision, Basciano, a high-school drop-out,  has a net worth of around $150 million, which he amassed mostly in real estate investments, including the former "Show World" pornography store in New York's Times Square.

Basciano was a "close personal friend" of Rappaport , who "had a reputation for poorly maintaining his properties" and "recieved a significant number of code violations from the City of Philadelphia," according to Fritsch's decree.

After his friend's death, Basciano helped repay some of the $108 million Rappaport had owed to the former Fidelity and Continental banks and other creditors and fix up his Center City properties by selling other Rappaport properties in Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Delaware and Florida.

But Rappaport's widow and children later accused Basciano and members of his family of charging excessive fees, selling unauthorized property and pocketing proceeds that should have gone to Rappaport's heirs..

Bucks County Common Pleas Court Judge Daniel J. Lawler in 2002 removed Basciano as executor and founded he'd "engaged in a series of self-dealing transactions". But it took eight years of legal complaints and counter complaints until Fritsch ordered Basciano to pay off the Rappaports. And both sides are headed back to court.

My Inquirer colleague Sam Wood contributed to this item.