On the two-year anniversary of the creation of the Mortgage Fraud and Real Estate Crime Unit, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes and U.S. Senator Charles Schumer announced the recent arrest of 18 people involved in Brooklyn real estate scams, bringing the unit’s total number of arrests to 40 (note: correction appended).
Schumer praised Hynes for the success of the unit at a press conference this morning, and said these arrests were not only a message to the 18 prosecuted, but also other potential criminals out there.
“There are [18] people being prosecuted,” Schumer said. “To all those others who are thinking of committing mortgage fraud, and until this unit was set up thought they’d never be caught, or if they were caught they’d get a slap on the wrist, well, there’s a new sheriff in town, and you better watch it.” [more]

From left: Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, public defender Ken Womble and 242 South 2nd Street (building photo source: PropertyShark)

A Brooklyn man was convicted yesterday on grand larceny charges, after illegally taking out a $1.6 million mortgage on his former co-op building at 242 South 2nd Street in Williamsburg. Fernando Maldonado faces up to 25 years behind bars for the 2008 crime, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.

Maldonado, who was named president of the co-op board at the building in 1985, was evicted in the late 1980s, the DA’s office said. He was able to carry out his scheme, according to the Brooklyn district attorney’s office, because his name remained on the original deed after his eviction.

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said that the case is part of his office’s ongoing effort to target mortgage fraud on a broader scale. [more]

A construction worker in Bedford-Stuyvesant has been charged with misdemeanor reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment of property in connection with a three-alarm fire at a two-story residential building at 812 Kent Avenue.

Efran Ordonez, 30, allegedly used a blowtorch to patch a leak in the building’s roof on Monday. During the course of this work, Ordonez allegedly set fire to the building, according to the criminal complaint. He was released on his own recognizance yesterday, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said. [more]

From the March issue: Real estate scams are the crime du jour, it seems. In the 2000s, the era of easy credit and lax lending standards created a compelling motive for fraud that legal experts say is still being uncovered. Even now, with prices down from the peak, New York City real estate is pricey enough to tempt would-be criminals. Adam Hochfelder, for example, lost his status as a charismatic wunderkind of Manhattan real estate in 2008, when he was arrested and accused of stealing more than $17 million from banks, friends and family through fraudulent loans and a fictitious real estate venture. Then, last month, he was indicted again, this time on charges that he stole some $2.5 million from business associates and friends by leading them to believe they were investing in deals to acquire the Sagamore Hotel on Lake George in upstate New York and the Peaks Resort and Spa in Telluride, Colo. Now, The Real Deal dissects his crime. [more]