Editor's note: The above video is from previous coverage of Paul's charge, which aired Nov. 8, 2024.
AUSTIN (KXAN) – Real estate investor Nate Paul was booked into the Travis County jail Thursday evening to begin a 10-day jail sentence for criminal contempt of court – a penalty dealt by a district judge for perjury and violating an injunction in civil case against a charity, according to county records.
Travis County District Judge Jan Soifer first ordered Paul to jail in March 2023. Paul unsuccessfully fought the order at practically every available level of the court system – from the Texas Supreme Court to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the past week Paul filed two motions in federal district court to avert the jail term, but both were denied, according to court records. His varied appeals delayed the punishment for more than a year, but time ultimately ran out.
The contempt sentence relates to a lawsuit between Paul and the nonprofit Mitte Foundation. The dispute began in 2018, when the Mitte Foundation sued over investments in Paul’s real estate ventures, court records show.
The Mitte Foundation prevailed in arbitration. Amid the legal wrangling, Soifer found Paul guilty of perjury and violating an injunction that required him to report transfers over $25,000 and get fair value for transfers, according to court records.
Paul has made countless headlines in the past several years. He rose to prominence as the chief of World Class Holdings, a real estate investment company that had assets nationwide exceeding $1 billion, according to media reports.
In recent years, bankruptcies and lawsuits have beset Paul’s companies.
Paul’s court battle with the Mitte Foundation intersected with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was accused of wrongfully using his office to help Paul in the lawsuit. The Texas House impeached Paxton over that and other allegations. The Texas Senate then acquitted Paxton on all the articles of impeachment against him last year.
Paul has also been mired in a federal criminal case with the potential for far more time behind bars than 10 days. He faces a dozen federal charges for bank and wire fraud. Those felony counts are unrelated to his lawsuit with the Mitte Foundation.
Paul is schedule for trial on the fraud charges in February 2025.
