Last month, Attorney General Letitia James called on New York lawmakers to consider deed theft a standalone crime to make it easier to bring offenders to justice.
In the meantime, though, James is making do.
The attorney general’s office said Friday it had indicted five members of a deed theft ring for allegedly stealing three Queens homes worth more than $1 million.
Three of the ring members were arrested Thursday. Stacie Saunders, Anyekache Hercules and Jerry Currin were charged with money laundering, grand larceny, conspiracy, a scheme to defraud, forgery and criminal impersonation, among other counts.
Two others — Marcus Wilcher and Dean Lloyd — remain at large. Three unnamed members of the ring have yet to be found.
The maximum sentence is 15 years, according to the attorney general.
The scheme started in September 2019, when Wilcher began to identify run-down houses with absentee owners in Jamaica and St. Albans.
Saunders would then market the Queens homes to investors at cheap prices to spur quick sales.
Hercules, a disbarred lawyer, would forge legal documents, such as driver’s licenses and social security cards, for the actual owners and assume the identity of a practicing attorney to send legal correspondence, according to the indictment.
For closings and contract signings, Wilcher and Saunders would find people to impersonate the owners.
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In the theft of 161-14 121 Avenue, Currin, a member of the homeowner’s family played along with the scheme. The ring member appeared at the closing of his family home with someone pretending to be his sister and the executor of the family estate.
After the sales closed, the accused opened bank accounts in the names of the real owners and funneled more than $1 million in sale proceeds into them.
Each of the homes was sold to a separate limited liability company: 112-39 176 Street went to a firm associated with Bibi Khan, a real estate agent; 161-14 121 Avenue sold to a company associated with broker Mostak Ahmed; and 168-11 Avenue went to BZ Rising, which had no associated officer.
Khan and Ahmed could not be reached for comment.