Trump Commutes Sentence of NY Developer Tied to Fraud in CT

Donald Trump commuted the federal prison sentence of a Brooklyn real estate developer convicted in a sweeping mortgage fraud scheme that fueled a $50 million buying spree across Hartford’s multifamily market.

Jacob Deutsch, who was sentenced to five years behind bars, saw his prison term, fine and related penalties wiped away by a grant of executive clemency signed last week, the Hartford Courant reported. Trump offered no explanation for the decision.

The case centered on a yearslong effort by Deutsch and his cousin, Aron Deutsch, to amass dozens of apartment buildings using falsified financial records.

Federal prosecutors said the cousins acquired 17 multifamily properties across Hartford between 2016 and 2021, leaning on hundreds of forged documents to secure 24 separate mortgages from lenders that included four banks and secondary market players such as Fannie Mae. The portfolio stretched from Washington Street south of downtown through the West End and into Asylum Hill.

Jacob Deutsch was accused of masterminding an elaborate web of fake rent rolls, leases, utility bills and bank records to inflate occupancy and income at multiple properties. One focal point was a 24-unit complex at 16 Evergreen Avenue, which prosecutors said was completely vacant when Deutsch represented it as fully leased at above-market rents.

To sell the story, Deutsch admitted to inventing tenants, forging signatures on leases and staging empty apartments with furniture and clothing before lender inspections. When lenders pushed for more proof, prosecutors said he supplied doctored electric and gas bills and fabricated bank deposits showing rental income that didn’t exist.

Aron Deutsch, based in Monsey, New York, avoided prison but was fined $1 million and placed on probation for five years — penalties wiped away by the clemency. Prosecutors said he helped purchase cashier’s checks used to back up the fake banking records.

The U.S. Attorney’s office described the scheme as shifting “the risk of catastrophic loss” onto lenders and the mortgage-backed securities market. The conspiracy began to unravel after federal housing officials flagged the Evergreen Avenue loan file as “wildly false.”

Despite the scope of the fraud, the case landed awkwardly in a stable Hartford market. Prosecutors acknowledged that rising property values and steady rents limited losses, though they pegged lender damages at roughly $3.5 million. Defense attorneys argued the properties were ultimately sold at break-even prices.

— Holden Walter-Warner