Joseph Makhani convicted of deed theft

A jury found Joseph Makhani guilty of stealing the deeds of two Harlem brownstones with a combined value of nearly $4.7 million, the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Wednesday.

The AG indicted Makhani, 63, twice — in 2021 and 2023 — for deed theft at 107 West 118th Street and 135 West 131st Street.

The Kings Point, Long Island resident is now facing a maximum sentence of eight to 25 years in prison. The sentencing is scheduled for July 28 in the New York State Supreme Court, and Makhani will remain in custody until then.

“We disagree with the jury verdict,” said Makhani’s lawyer Susan Necheles, who previously represented Donald Trump in several cases, including a criminal hush money trial against Stormy Daniels in 2024. “Mr. Makhani was innocent of the charges and we expect to win on appeal.”

The presented evidence showed that beginning in 2012, Makhani used false documents and shell companies to steal the deed of a brownstone at 107 West 118th Street from an elderly homeowner who was forced to live in a homeless shelter for years as a result. Meanwhile, between 2016 and 2023, Makhani rented out four units for between $3,000 and $3,400 per month after he received approval from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development to convert the home into market-rate rentals.

Additionally, Makhani falsely reported that he paid $975,000 for the West 118th Street property and received a $650,000 construction loan for renovations. He then refinanced and received a $1.2 million long-term mortgage loan on the property, according to the AG’s office.

Makhani’s second target was 135 West 131st Street, where the last true deed recorded was from 1975, according to the attorney general. He took advantage of a beneficiary passing away in 2010. He approached one of the building’s tenants around 2012 and told them that he had purchased the brownstone. Makhani secured the tenant’s signature by pretending to offer him a job. He then recreated the signature on a fraudulent deed to unlawfully transfer the property to One 35 West Corp., a company he controlled, the AG’s office said.

Makhani’s history spans decades. In 1999, he and his brother Kamran “Mike” Makhani, another resident of Kings Point, pleaded guilty for their roles in a scheme involving foreclosed properties in Queens. They were fined and sentenced to three months in prison. Nine years later, companies in which Joseph Makhani was a principal pleaded guilty in State Supreme Court to filing false deeds as part of a housing scam in Queens and were fined $5,000 each, according to the New York Times.

The following year, Hunter college students producing a documentary about predatory lending practices in Brooklyn faced legal threats intended to silence their investigation into the Makhani brothers’ real estate company. In the film, Makhani is asked if the name of the company deceptively suggests it is a government agency. “If the client is stupid, that’s not my problem,” Makhani replies. “We’re not going to have classes to teach people how to read.”

The case highlights a broader, state-wide push to penalize deed thieves. James’ office has secured multiple charges and convictions against deed thieves across New York. In June, a Queens man was charged with allegedly stealing the deed to a Brooklyn home from an elderly woman with dementia and renting it out while she lived there. Real estate broker Stacie Saunders, member of a five-person ring, got three to nine years in 2025 for stealing and selling three homes from elderly Queens owners.

In 2024, James championed new legislation that officially criminalized deed theft and gave her office the authority to prosecute these crimes across the state.

—- Joy Bergmann contributed to reporting for this story