NYC Trio Convicted In Title Hijacking Scam Involving $1.19 Million Harlem Brownstone Sentenced To State Prison

From the Office of the New York County (Manhattan) District Attorney:

• Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced the sentencing of three individuals for engaging in a scheme to fraudulently sell a residential home in Harlem, without the knowledge of the legitimate property owner.
  
  KAJETAN BELZA, 38 [4 to 12 years], CHRISTOPHER CABLE, 39 [3 to 9 years], and CARRIE STEVENS, 61 [1 to 3 years], were each sentenced to state prison after pleading guilty to stealing the identity of a Manhattan residential property owner and then accepting a $525,000 check for the sale of her property, located at 79 West 118th Street – a property that was worth approximately $1.19 million. Four additional co-conspirators, and two other individuals, have also been charged in separate New York State Supreme Court indictments for the fraudulent sale of the Harlem property, or other properties located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.
  
  “This type of criminal conduct – which defrauds not only legitimate property owners, but unsuspecting buyers as well – is reaching unprecedented levels in New York and across the country,” said District Attorney Vance. “My Office, along with our partners, will continue our efforts to root out scammers before they are able to profit from their illegality, and I urge anyone who believes they have been the victim of this type of real estate scheme to please call my Office’s Financial Frauds Bureau at 212-335-8900.”
  
  According to court documents and the defendants’ guilty pleas, BELZA, CABLE, and STEVENS, along with co-conspirators, developed a scheme in which they would target vacant properties, many of which were in a dilapidated condition and which had owners who either were absent or did not use the property as their primary residence. Often these properties were being held for investment purposes.
  
  The defendants would then forge personal identification and real estate documents in order to steal the identity of the true property owner, retain an attorney, and attend the closing for the sale of the property to a new, unsuspecting owner. [more]

For more, see DA Vance Announces Sentencing Of Three Individuals In Fraudulent Residential Real Estate Scam (Defendants Engaged in a Scheme to Sell a Residential Home in Harlem Without the Knowledge of the Legitimate Owner; DA Vance Also Announces the Indictment of Six Other Individuals for the Fraudulent Sale of Additional Properties Throughout New York City).