Pair Pinched For Allegedly Using Forged Docs To Run Home Title Hijacking Racket; Suspects Lifted Nine Homes Worth Million$ In Brooklyn/Queens, Renting Some, Flipping Others For Pocket Cash: DA

In Brooklyn, New York, the New York Post reports:

• A pair of con men forged documents to illegally take ownership of nine homes in Brooklyn and Queens, renting some out, selling others and pocketing the cash, prosecutors said [].
  
  Accused ringleader Danny Noble, 45, of Baldwin, Long Island, and Roderick Grey, 37, of Freeport, were tripped up when the legitimate owner of one of the homes learned of the scam and called the cops, Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson said.(1)
  
  “The houses targeted in this fraud are worth millions of dollars. It is shocking that [Noble] was allegedly able to carry out such a brazen scheme,” he said.
  
  Court documents said the duo falsely transferred titles to single- and multi-family homes in Fort Greene, Bushwick and East New York, in Brooklyn, and Jamaica and Hollis, Queens, in the scam, which ran from June 2010 to March 2015.
  
  The defendants targeted the properties because the owners did not live there and rarely visited, prosecutors said.
  
  In one example, Noble took control of 45 North Oxford St., a renovated Fort Greene brownstone whose owner lived abroad, and rented out apartments for $1,500 a month each.
  
  Will Cropper, 46, a tenant at the three-family home, said Noble seemed legit until he suddenly vanished last January. “I’m glad he got arrested. He’s getting what he deserves. He’s a crook, plain and simple,” Cropper told The Post.
  
  Prosecutors said the scam fell apart after Grey and Noble transferred the title to a house at 1391 East 95th St. in Canarsie to a third party and told a tenant he had to move out.
  
  When the new “owner” started renovations, the actual owner learned of the work from an employee of a business across the street, and notified the police.
  
  The pair were arraigned [] before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on charges including criminal possession of stolen property, grand larceny and falsifying business records.
  
  Noble was held on $250,000 bail and faces up to 25 years behind bars. Grey was held on $10,000 cash bail and faces up to four years in prison.

Source: Con men rented out homes they didn’t own.

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(1) Noble is already facing charges for running a similar racket in Nassau County. See Cops: Baldwin Man Charged with Forgery; Filed Forged Deeds to Transfer Ownership of Property.