The hunt for Conman's castle
Conman appears ready to take a page out of John Kasich's playbook for bilking taxpayers for home upgrades.
The Friday dispatch will be the August Mailbag.
You can submit your questions through the Jotform.
An eclectic mix of non-political and political questions is always what makes the Mailbags fun to write (and hopefully read, too!)
Back in November, numerous sources tied to BexleyTMZ informed The Rooster that Jay Schottenstein, the CEO of a recently bankrupt corporation, had sold his Bexley compound to the notorious conman, Vivek Ramaswamy.
The deal was $15 million, with Tina Husted, wife of junior Senator Jon Husted, netting a $400K windfall as the realtor.
The massive property is mere steps from the literal governor’s mansion.
If two average Ohioans engage in a real estate transaction, that gets listed in public records with the sale price.
Rich guys like Schottenstein and Ramaswamy, however, can cloak their participation in secrecy by engaging in what’s called a “drop and swap,” which sees the seller incorporate their property into an LLC, and then sell that LLC to an unnamed buyer at an unnamed price.
On Dec. 12, 2025, Schottenstein and his wife, Jean, sold the property exactly that way, as shown in this document The Rooster obtained from the Franklin County Auditor’s Office:
In April, The Rooster reported on Schottenstein having an estate auction featuring his collection of weird rich guy things that exemplify how marginal tax rates aren’t nearly high enough in America.
Corporations that look to evade property taxes were the pioneers of the “drop and swap,” but the practice has become more common in recent years.
Ramaswamy would have other reasons to engage in such secrecy. He’s already seen as an unlikable, bizarre billionaire who’s unconcerned about the struggles of everyday Ohioans. And that reputation has stuck on him without concentrated negative advertising that’s around the corner, either.
Buying a $15 million mansion—steps from the literal governor’s mansion—in an affluent liberal neighborhood like Bexley a year before the election isn’t the type of story that endears him to the MAGA base, or the majority of Ohioans are inclined not to like the guy.
But it’s well in line with how Ramaswamy has run his campaign, right down to boarding a private jet to Paris, France, on America’s 250th birthday.
