Gene Freidman

Evgeny Alender Freidman (; ), known as Gene Freidman, (November 29, 1970 – October 24, 2021) was an American businessman and attorney who once owned a large taxi fleet in New York City, Taxi Club Management, Inc. He was dubbed the "Taxi King" or "Kingpin." He was a convicted felon and was disbarred.

Early life and education Freidman was born on November 29, 1970, into a Jewish family in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). although he was disbarred in 2017 after pleading guilty to tax fraud. After college, he worked as a lawyer for a production company in Los Angeles. Taxi Club Management permanently closed in 2018.

Freidman managed the taxi fleet of Michael Cohen after Simon Garber purchased the management of most of Cohen's large fleet. Cohen arranged an apartment for Friedman in Trump Tower. Attorney General of New York Eric Schneiderman sued Freidman in April 2015 for failing to abide by the terms of the 2013 settlement and for further violations. The suit was settled in April 2016 with Freidman required to pay over $250,000 in fines, damages, and restitution.

In July 2016, companies that owned approximately 90 of Friedman's nearly 900 taxi medallions, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an attempt to protect those medallions from foreclosure action by lenders. In December 2016, he agreed to surrender 46 of his medallions to settle obligations to Citibank. In September 2016, Freidman was evicted from his longtime headquarters after falling $170,000 behind on his rent. In April 2017, the Taxi and Limousine Commission refused to renew more than 800 of Freidman's licenses which had expired. At that time, Freidman still owned about 150 taxi medallions.

In June 2017, Freidman along with Taxi Club Management's CFO Andreea Dumitru were indicted with four counts of criminal tax fraud in the first degree and one count of grand larceny in the first degree. The indictments alleged that Freidman's company stole $5 million by never remitting the state the 50-cent surcharge, known as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority tax, that the company collected. On May 22, 2018, Freidman pleaded guilty to one count of criminal tax fraud in the second degree. As part of his plea deal, Freidman was required to pay restitution of $1 million to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Freidman’s sentence was suspended to allow him to complete his restitution payments. If he satisfied the terms of the agreement, he was to be sentenced to 5 years’ probation.

In December 2017, Freidman served a 28-day sentence in Cook County Jail in Chicago for "indirect criminal contempt of court".

Disbarment On July 13, 2017, Freidman was suspended from practicing law then, on May 1, 2018; he was barred from practicing law as an attorney in New York, for having failed to respond to notices or appear for investigation related to his suspension.

Sexual harassment lawsuit In June 2018, Freidman lost a lawsuit to his former assistant whom he was found to have repeatedly sexually harassed. A New York court ordered him to pay $1.3 million in damages.

Politics Freidman raised more than $50,000 for Mayor Bill de Blasio's campaign. He was a part owner of Arthur until the late 2000s, a chain that sold high-end pajamas and beach wear with whimsical French patterns.

On October 24, 2021, Freidman died at the age of 50 in a Manhattan hospital, apparently from complications of a heart attack.