67-79 East 161st Street and Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York

Landlord Mark Benun
was sentenced Friday in Manhattan federal court to 51 months in prison
for a mortgage fraud scheme involving the sale of a $5.9 million
commercial property at 67-79 East 161st Street near Yankee Stadium in
the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx, according to federal
prosecutors. Benun was also sentenced to three years of
supervised release and was ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of
$5.5 million, according to the United States Attorney for the Southern
District of New York, Preet Bharara. “I sold a property that I did not own,” he admitted to the judge, according to a court transcription. Prosecutors
said that Benun, 35, as owner of a Manhattan-based real estate
investment firm called MBM1, bought the property for $9.5 million and
used forged documents to sell the property for $5.96 million, despite
the fact that he only owned 25 percent of it, according to the
indictment. He later wired some of the proceeds of the sale to
out-of-state bank accounts. TRD [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]

A Bronx property owner pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court to charges that he fraudulently sold a commercial building for $5.9 million earlier this year, authorities said.

According to prosecutors, Mark Benun, 35, partnered with another company to buy the building at 67-79 East 161st Street in 2006 for $9.5 million. Benun, who brokered the deal, was given a 25 percent interest in the property, while the other investor, identified in city property records as Lido Realty of Brooklyn, held a 75 percent interest, according to the US Attorney in Manhattan. Despite his minority interest, Benun sold the property in February 2009 for $5.96 million using forged deed and mortgage documents, prosecutors said.
Following the bogus sale, Benun wired at least $450,000 to other bank accounts, and in addition withdrew about $1.4 million which he used to buy gold bars in Manhattan. TRD [more]

A Manhattan man was indicted yesterday for interstate transportation of
the proceeds from the fraudulent sale of a Bronx building, according to
a press release from the office of Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the
Southern District of New York. The man, Mark Benun, along with an
unnamed co-purchaser, allegedly bought a commercial property at 67-79
East 161st Street in the Highbridge neighborhood for $9.5 million in 2006. Benun had a 25 percent
interest and his co-purchaser had a 75 percent interest in the
property, which they bought with $4.5 million in cash and a $5 million
mortgage, the release said. This year, Benun allegedly sold the
property, of which he claimed to be the sole owner, for $5.96 million.
Benun created false satisfactions of the property’s mortgages and a
fraudulent transfer of ownership from his co-owner to Benun, according
to the release. Benun allegedly withdrew about $1.4 million of the
proceeds from the sale and purchased gold bars. TRD [more]