666 Third Avenue, 105 East 17th Street, 31 West 52nd Street and 200 Liberty Street (building sources: Property Shark)

The Manhattan district attorney has indicted six subcontractors for allegedly colluding with Lehr Construction, which was charged with fraud and corruption yesterday, in swindling $30 million from construction clients. Godsell Construction was charged with grand larceny as were JT Roselle Lighting, Liberty Contracting, PJ Mechanical, Superior Acoustics and Sweeney & Harkin Carpentry. According to court documents, the six companies colluded with Lehr, which acted as the construction manager for clients, to overcharge clients for the work they performed. The firms held the money for Lehr, and in return, later performed work for Lehr in general contractor projects. TRD Comments

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335 East 116th Street (Source: PropertyShark)

Lawrence Paul posed as a real estate agent, escorted a would-be Manhattan renter to an apartment with the promise that a similar one would be available in a week and accepted a $2,900 deposit for the unit, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office. When the apartment hunter went to move into the apartment at 335 East 116th Street in June, he learned the unit was actually occupied and the real estate agent was nowhere to be found, the criminal complaint says.
Paul was arrested Monday, the New York Post reported. He was charged with grand larceny and was expected to appear in court today. TRD

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The offices of three interior construction subcontractors were raided this week by state troopers and detectives from the Manhattan district attorney’s office as part of an investigation into widespread corruption in the industry. The offices of P.J. Mechanical of Manhattan, Sirina Fire Protection of Long Island and Sweeney & Harkin Carpentry and Dry Wall of Queens were searched in connection with the investigation of construction contractors, which have been suspected of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars through a scheme involving false invoices for interior construction work. The three subcontractors have not been accused of any wrongdoing. There are roughly 70 companies coming under scrutiny by the district attorney’s office as part of its expanded probe into the industry, which began under former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau and resulted in charges against the Builders Group and three of its executives in January for allegedly pocketing close to $7 million of clients’ money at five condominium and office projects. [NYT]

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The offices of three interior construction subcontractors were raided this week by state troopers and detectives from the Manhattan district attorney’s office as part of an investigation into widespread corruption in the industry. The offices of P.J. Mechanical of Manhattan, Sirina Fire Protection of Long Island and Sweeney & Harkin Carpentry and Dry Wall of Queens were searched in connection with the investigation of construction contractors, which have been suspected of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars through a scheme involving false invoices for interior construction work. The three subcontractors have not been accused of any wrongdoing. There are roughly 70 companies coming under scrutiny by the district attorney’s office as part of its expanded probe into the industry, which began under former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau and resulted in charges against the Builders Group and three of its executives in January for allegedly pocketing close to $7 million of clients’ money at five condominium and office projects. [NYT]

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From left: 416 East 13th Street, 343 Lexington Avenue and 117 East 102nd Street

A man posed as a real estate agent and scammed potential renters out of $4,000, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Vincent Armas was charged with grand larceny for allegedly taking the money in the form of deposits from three unrelated people for rental units at 416 East 13th Street, 343 Lexington Avenue between 39th and 40th streets, and 117 East 102nd Street. After Armas took their money, they were either denied access to the units, or were told that the apartments were not available for rent, according to the criminal court complaint. [more]

An accountant at a Manhattan-based real estate company has been charged with “siphon[ing] away approximately $600,000 to [his] personal accounts and/or other personal gains,” over a two-year period ending March 11, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

In part, Ravi Loganathan, 53, a nine-year employee with hotel owner Panoramic Ace Properties, used a corporate credit card account to charge tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized expenditures over a six-month period, the complaint says.

He worked at the company’s U.S. offices on West 37th Street. Panoramic own five hotels in the United States, two of which are in New York State. The company is part of a larger hotel operator and information technology company, India-based Panoramic Universal. Panoramic Ace Properties did not immediately return requests for comment. The case was first reported in the New York Post today.

Loganathan was arrested on first-degree grand larceny charges last Thursday and was indicted today although the updated charges were not immediately available. [more]

160 Lexington Avenue and Howard Kessler of Newmark Knight Frank

The building that once housed Touro College at 160 Lexington Avenue on the corner of 30th Street is up for sale or net lease, with Newmark Knight Frank marketing the listing. Also, the Manhattan DA announces an expanded economic crimes wing that will target issues like mortgage fraud. And, DEP renews its lease at 1250 Broadway. Click here for more. TRD
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Builders Group project sites from left: St. Vincent’s Hospital, St. Ann’s School, the Carlyle Hotel. The projects were not specifically cited by the DA’s office in the press release.

The Builders Group, a Manhattan construction company, has been indicted on charges connected to an alleged scheme to inflate construction costs for interior building projects across the tri-state area, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced today.
The group, along with three of its top executives, has been charged with submitting false invoices from subcontractors to developers of various building projects, and collecting the extra money through kickbacks from those subcontractors.
Between 2006 and 2009, the Builders Group, acting as construction manager for condo conversions and office renovations, conspired with subcontractors to overcharge clients by an estimated 10 percent for construction materials after negotiating for a lower price, according to the DA’s office. The difference, prosecutors allege, was then secretly returned to the Builders Group in the form of credits for past debt or directly.
The company, whose repertoire of projects — according to its Web site — include a trauma center at St. Vincent’s Hospital, a laboratory at St. Ann’s School in Brooklyn and boutiques at the Carlyle for London jeweler Asprey, has denied any wrongdoing. TRD [more]

A Queens police officer was charged with filing bogus pay stubs with the city’s Housing Preservation and Development in an effort to continue receiving a housing subsidy valued at about $7,600, authorities said. Simone Smith, stationed in the 108th precinct in Long Island City, was arrested today and faces multiple charges including welfare fraud, forgery, criminal possession of a forged instrument and attempted grand larceny, the office of the Manhattan District Attorney said. Smith, 31, a Queens resident, gave doctored pay stubs and W-2 forms to
HPD in Manhattan to keep receiving the housing assistance which she was
no longer eligible for after earning a higher salary on the police
force, prosecutors said. She was placed on modified leave in May. The most severe charges each carry a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. Smith was expected to be arraigned today and released without posting bail, the DA’s office said. TRD [more]

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau indicted the owners of
several New York City check-cashing companies yesterday for a
money-laundering scheme that authorities uncovered while investigating
a contaminated World Trade Center building. Rose Gill Hearn, the city’s
commissioner of investigations, said the alleged scheme was a “shell
game” in which checks related to the former Deutsche Bank building were
cashed. Riad Khalil and Neil Goldstein, owners of two of the check-cashing companies,
were slated to be arraigned yesterday on charges of falsifying business
records.
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