Bitter feud between five billionaire brothers takes fresh twist after decades-long war over diamonds and LA property empire tore family apart

After more than two decades of legal sparring, the property magnate at the heart of America's most expensive sibling spat claims he has forgiven his brother. 

In February, Indian-born real estate mogul Shashikant Jogani - known as Shashi - was awarded $7 billion by a jury after his brother Haresh, a uber-rich diamond dealer, tried to swindle him out of his stake in a multi-billion dollar real estate empire.

Shashi claimed he entered into an unwritten agreement in 1995 with Haresh and three of his other brothers to buy distressed properties in California to turn a profit.

Shashi was positioned as the brains of the operation - since he was the only one with years of experience in the California real estate game - while his brothers were the financiers. He said in return he was promised a 50 percent share in the company.

With nothing in writing, the business agreement later descended into all-out legal war after Haresh refused to uphold his end of the bargain. 

But now Shashi has revealed he holds 'no grudge' against his brother and would like to make amends, the LA Times reported.

Shashi Jogani, seen here, was awarded $7 billion after suing his brother Haresh 

The Jogani brothers have been tangled in a lawsuit dating back to 2003, when Shashi Jogani sued brother Haresh (pictured) for not living up to an oral agreement made between the two of them and three other brothers

The suit stems from Haresh buying about 2,600 of Shashi's units - which now include Sunset Pointe Apartments in Van Nuys - and hiring his brother as a consultant, using his knowledge of the business to find other potential units

According to eldest sibling Shashi, the agreement was that his brothers Haresh, Rajesh, Shailesh and Chetan - all of whom worked together in their lucrative diamond business back home in India - would front Shashi the tens of millions of dollars he needed to invest in real estate. 

Shashi would then be the one actively buying, renovating and flipping the apartment complexes mostly in California's San Fernando Valley.

'Haresh was proposing that all five brothers, including Haresh, would become partners. I will be 50 percent partner. Four other brothers are going to be 50 percent partner,' Shashi testified in court when the decades-long feud finally went to trial in September 2023.

As part of the deal, Shashi’s testified that his 50 percent stake in the companies would not be realized until he paid his brothers back for their initial investment plus 12 percent interest.

Shashi's mistake, according to his lawyers, was sticking by Indian families' traditional way of doing business with each other and never getting any of this in writing.

As a result, when Shashi paid off the $70 million he owed to his brothers in late 2001, Haresh refused to give him the 50 percent ownership in the company.

'I lost my mind. I said, "I made this empire,"' Shashi testified. 'I really felt betrayed. ... I created this empire. I hired all the people. I hired the management company. I purchased all these properties.' 

Haresh took the stand during the trial as well and said Shashi was straight-up lying. 

There was no handshake deal or any kind of oral agreement between the two of them in Shashi's Glendale townhouse in 1995, Haresh testified.

Rather, Haresh claims he hired Shashi as a consultant for the real estate business, and the two only had a written consulting agreement, not a split ownership deal.

Haresh Jogani (pictured) testified his vast real estate portfolio was now worth 'zero, negative' after a Los Angeles jury found he owed his four brothers $10 billion for cutting them off the family business

Attorneys for brothers Rajesh Jogani (left) and Chetan Jogani (right) said they are 'elated' after a jury found their other brother, Haresh, acted in 'trickery and deceit' in keeping billions of earnings to himself

Rajesh Jogani was awarded $450 million in punitive damages on March 7, 2023

Chetan Jogani rushed out of court on March 4, 2023

Yash Jogani, Chetan's son, said the family is happy to put the case behind them

John Lee, Haresh's attorney, said his client plans to file an appeal

'[Shashi] just was a consultant. It’s my corporation. It’s my capital, my business,' Haresh said in court. 

In 2003 it became clear to Shashi that wasn't going to get what he thought he deserved, so he sued all four brothers, though his primary target was Haresh. 

Another twist in the case came when the other brothers switched sides more than a decade after Shashi filed his initial lawsuit. 

Each of them sued Haresh because they now claimed they weren't getting their fair share of the money Haresh promised them in similar handshake agreements. 

They also claimed that Haresh controlled the money in their joint diamond business and that he forced them to sign declarations writing Shashi out of owning the California real estate companies. 

'"If you don’t sign this declaration, then I’m holding your 95 percent capital,"' Haresh told his youngest brother, Chetan, according to Chetan’s trial testimony. "'You will not get anything."'

Haresh denied pressuring his brothers into anything.  

The five-month trial, beginning in September and ending in February, featured roughly 400 documents and more than three dozen witnesses called to the stand.

Shashi's real estate holdings were damaged by the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which killed 16 people in one of his buildings due to a floor collapse and forced hundreds of other units to evacuate. This is what prompted Shashi to go to Haresh for a potential partnership where Haresh and the other brothers would kick in funds Shashi would have to pay back with interest

The arrangements between Shashi and Haresh initially worked well, as Haresh eventually grew his portfolio to complexes totaling 16,400 units

The case dragged on for 20 years, with multiple claims filed by four of Haresh's brothers

But in the end, the jurors dealt a devastating blow to Haresh by saying that yes, Shashi did 'enter into an oral or implied in fact agreement with Haresh to acquire properties as partners.'

As a result, the jury awarded Shashi with more than $1.7 billion in monetary damages and an additional $1.5 billion in punitive damages. 

Shashi was also given what he had chased for over twenty years: his 50 percent stake in the real estate companies he helped run and build into a huge success.

All told, Shashi was awarded an eye-watering $7 billion.

Brothers Rajesh and Chetan, who turned on Haresh about a decade ago, were each given $3.5 billion for their stakes in the California real estate companies that Haresh allegedly withheld from them like he did with Shashi. 

Shailesh, too, was given his stake in the partnership, but no separate damages.

Haresh, obviously, wasn't happy with the outcome. He pleaded poverty during the trial, testifying that his vast real estate portfolio was worth nothing. 

Haresh's team plans to appeal. They also filed a post-trial motion to disqualify the presiding judge, Susan Bryant-Deason, claiming she was 'zealously' biased against Haresh throughout the proceedings.

Eventually, all four brothers came together to sue Haresh resulting in a trial that began in September 2023 and ended in February

The jury awarded Shashi and brothers Rajesh, Chetan and Shailesh $2.5 billion in monetary damages and more than $4.5 billion in property interests, according to lawyers for the plaintiff

'She routinely sighed, rolled her eyes, and threw up her hands at Defendant’s counsel, including in front of the jury,' wrote Haresh's lawyer Rick Richmond. 

Richmond also claimed Bryant-Deason once 'yelled at, walked out on, and pantomimed playing a violin' at one of Haresh’s attorneys. 

Bryant-Deason denied the allegations. 

Shashi, ever-optimistic, told the LA Times that despite the near-endless acrimony between him and his brothers, he believes there's a future where he can make amends with them.

Shashi said he hasn't spoken to Haresh since they failed to work out a way to settle the lawsuit pre-trial, which was a few years ago.

Shashi rehearsed to the LA Times what he might say to his brother if he were to call him on the phone. And even after all Haresh put him through, Shashi appears willing to put it all behind them.

'Haresh, look, whatever happens, happens,' he could say. 'I have no grudge against you. I forgive you. What else can I say?'