A federal judge in New York dismissed Rudy Giuliani‘s bankruptcy case just seven months after the former New York City mayor first began to pursue bankruptcy protection after being ordered to pay millions in a defamation case.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane in the Southern District of New York claimed Giuliani was using the legal proceedings to avoid paying election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss the $148 million claim allotted to them in a defamation lawsuit.