From left: Stephen Meister and 315 West 35th StreetThe judge who presided over a fraud case involving Isaac Chetrit has recused himself and referred the case to Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, the New York Observer reported.

Isaac Chetrit’s attorney, Meister Seelig & Fein principal Stephen Meister, had sent a letter to Justice Bernard Fried alleging Chetrit was defrauded by Benjamin Herbst. Meister accuses Herbst of counterfeiting the mortgage deed Chetrit owns for the 60,000-square-foot building at 315 West 35th Street in order to halt the foreclosure procedure against owner Aaron Chitrik.

As previously reported, Herbst is believed to have a long track record of forging deeds, which first came to light with this case. [more]

United Homes head Yaron Hershco and 557 Hancock Street (building source: PropertyShark)[Updated 4:18 p.m.] A group of eight African-American homeowners were awarded a total of more than $1 million last
week, after a nine-member jury found that Yaron Hershco’s United Homes committed fraud — yet
cleared him of discrimination — in a wide-ranging property flipping scheme in Bedford-Stuyvesant,
Bushwick and other Brooklyn neighborhoods.

Hershco, a developer of single-family homes and luxury condominium buildings, had been accused in
the federal district court complaint of luring first-time homebuyers to a so-called one-stop shop, where
appraisers, lenders, lawyers and other officials conspired to sell them homes at over-inflated prices until the buyers were on the brink of foreclosure.

The jury decided that the participants in the scheme, including Hershco, United Homes, Allied
Mortgage Banking, Olympia Mortgage and attorney Benjamin Turner must pay punitive damages to the plaintiffs. [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]

From left: District Attorney Charles Hynes, 243 East 54th Street and 5501 Church Avenue (building photos source: PropertyShark)

A Brooklyn construction company owner who stole two East Flatbush properties from a dead woman has been sentenced to 12 to 36 years in prison, according to the Brooklyn district attorney’s office. After the buildings’ owner died, George Marks, 43, forged deeds for them, for a combined $20, from her estate. The buildings, at 243 East 54th Street and 5501 Church Avenue, were then valued at more than $1 million together. Marks was convicted July 20 of three counts of grand larceny and six counts of falsifying business records. TRD [more]

An investigation into the murder of Brooklyn attorney Mark Schwartz and his wife, Christina Petrowski, has unearthed a far-reaching financial and real estate scam in which the two were apparently involved. Four individuals and three corporations have been indicted for a criminal conspiracy in which they stole more than $1 million from clients of Schwartz’s law firm and one of the corporations under investigation, Adonis Abstract, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes announced today. The defendants allegedly carried out the scheme, which included recruiting straw buyers to take part in fraudulent real estate transactions, as well as money laundering, identity theft and larceny, between 2006 and 2009. Properties and victims targeted were located in Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Westchester County, New Jersey and Delaware.
Eventually, the indictment says, three of the individuals charged turned on Schwartz and began to steal from his law firm. If convicted, they face up to 25 years in prison. The investigation into the murders of Schwartz and Petrowski is ongoing. TRD

Three of the nine buildings involved in the alleged mortgage fraud, from left: 467-469 Vanderbilt Avenue, 1234 St. Marks Avenue, 2525 Snyder Avenue. Source: DA’s office (click image to see all nine buildings)

Aiming to deter a type of crime he says is becoming “epidemic,” Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes today announced the indictment of 12 people in  alleged mortgage and real estate scams. The cases are the result of investigations by the DA’s new Mortgage Fraud and Real Estate Crimes unit, created in February 2009 by an $875,000 grant by Sen. Charles Schumer. The unit is part of the DA’s Rackets Division. At a press conference announcing the indictments this morning, Hynes said the arrests “should send a strong warning to all those who think they can come up with some new scam. It ain’t gonna happen anymore. We are fully staffed and ready to go.”
Hynes described real estate crime as “an epidemic” that “demanded an innovative response,” which prompted the funding of the new unit.
The arrests show that “we will not tolerate this type of crime,” said New York State Senator Carl Kruger, who also attended the press conference. [more]

The Kings County Mortgage Fraud and Real Estate Crimes Unit, which was launched in March, has indicted eight people and opened more than 80 mortgage fraud cases, Senator Charles Schumer and Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes announced today. Among those indicted, according to a press release from the District Attorney’s office, were Lyndall Ingram, who allegedly had forged powers of attorney for 239 54th Street in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, that allowed him to sell the property to an innocent buyer; Nathaniel McLeon, who allegedly posed as an attorney and pretended he had the authority to sell 542 Hancock Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn; and Leonard Fedee, who allegedly told a prospective buyer that 146-03 133rd Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, was headed into foreclosure even though it was not in foreclosure or for sale. One of the eight defendants has not yet been apprehended. TRD [more]

L Haus tacks on more buyer incentives: Three months after announcing buyer incentives, the Long Island City
condo L Haus just started offering 90 percent financing in addition to its rent-to-own and price protection incentives to
potential buyers. L Haus is also offering brokers 2.5 percent
commission on first deals, 4 percent commission on second deals and 5
percent on third deals. The Park Slope condo at 500 Fourth Avenue is
also offering a broker promotion. If three deals are done from one
brokerage office, the condo will raise the co-broke fee to 4 percent
from 3.5 percent. TRD [more]

A Brooklyn man impersonated his deceased, 77-year-old mother — even
donning a red cardigan and lipstick — in an alleged attempt to receive
social security benefits and steal the Park Slope brownstone she once
owned, according to the district attorney’s office. Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes today announced a 47-count
indictment against 49-year-old Thomas Parkin and his friend Mhilton
Rimolo, 47, in connection with the elaborate scam. The two were charged with first-degree grand larceny, and if convicted,
may serve up to 25 years in prison, according to a spokesperson for the
DA’s office. They were also charged with conspiracy, forgery, perjury
and criminal impersonation in connection with a scam. They are being
arraigned this morning at Kings County Supreme Court. [more]