CBRE Sues an Ex-Vice Chairman for Stealing Secret Company Information

CBRE Group, the world’s largest commercial real estate services provider, accused a former vice chairman of its retail group of stealing almost half a million files of proprietary information and trade secrets before he left last month to form his own company, reported The Real Deal.

According to the lawsuit, CBRE claims Rizika and Hernandez had been plotting his departure for months. Rizika allegedly downloaded half a million documents from the company’s password-protected online database, starting as early as June, the suit alleges. Those documents include rent rolls, stacking plans, contracts, marketing plans and financial information.

The day after he resigned, Rizika invited members of his CBRE retail sales team to his home where he gave a presentation of his new company and asked them to join, according to the complaint.