DA accuses property manager Richard Bassik of $2M theft

Richard Bassik and his firm Downtown Properties allegedly stole more
than $2.1 from the accounts of mostly residential real estate
properties that they managed, the office of the Manhattan district
attorney said yesterday.

Bassik, 67, and his firm were charged with grand larceny,
scheme to defraud and falsifying business records. Bassik, who turned
himself in today, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the
most serious charges, the DA’s office said.

Prosecutors claim Bassik took the money from 13 properties, mostly
residential ones in Lower Manhattan between January 2005 and August
2006. Investigators said more than $1.7 million was misappropriated
through checks, cash and the diversion of certificate of deposit funds.
The addresses of the buildings were not immediately available.

Investigators
said the largest victims were the mixed-use building at 115 Spring
Street, which lost nearly $882,000, and Riverbank South Owners, at 377
West 11th Street, which lost just over $608,000.

The Real Deal reported in July 2009 that those two properties filed
suit against Bassik claiming he stole money from their accounts as
the property manager.

Bassik was arraigned last night and bail was set at $500,000, a
spokesperson for the Manhattan DA said. He did not post bail, and
Bassik remained in custody in the Manhattan Detention Center in Lower
Manhattan, known as the Tombs, with his next court date July 12, a spokesperson for the Department of Corrections said. His attorney was not immediately available for comment.