UPDATED, 4:14 p.m., Jan. 3: Menachem Stark, a Brooklyn-based real estate developer from the Satmar Hasidic sect, has been kidnapped from his Williamsburg office, according to police reports.
Stark was kidnapped late Thursday night by two assailants, police said. One man was lying in wait outside Stark’s office, and when Stark emerged, a struggle ensued. A second man then pulled up in a minivan and together, the men hustled Stark into the van and drove off, according to surveillance tape seen by the police. The investigation is ongoing, a police dispatcher told The Real Deal.
Today’s snowstorm – which left parts of Brooklyn covered in eight inches of snow — is complicating the search for Stark, according to website Your Jewish News. The neighborhood Shomrim — or community watch group — is also actively searching for Stark, according to their Twitter feed. The Shomrim did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The missing persons report filed with the Williamsburg shomrim
Stark’s brother Yitzky told the New York Post that he was willing to offer a $100,000 reward for his brother’s safe return.
Stark and partner Israel Perlmutter were sued by special servicer CWCapital Asset Management in 2011 to recover $29 million lent in 2007 and secured by a seven-story, 74-unit residential rental building at 100 South 4th Street in Williamsburg, that they own, as The Real Deal reported. Stark has also previously defaulted on a loan On 239 Banker Street, a Greenpoint commercial building. [Your Jewish News] – Hiten Samtani