Aiming to deter a type of crime he says is becoming “epidemic,” Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes today announced the indictment of 12 people in mortgage and real estate scams.
The cases are the result of investigations by the DA’s new Mortgage Fraud and Real Estate Crimes unit, created in February 2009 by an $875,000 grant by Sen. Charles Schumer. The unit is part of the DA’s Rackets Division.
At a press conference announcing the indictments this morning, Hynes said the arrests “should send a strong warning to all those who think they can come up with some new scam. It ain’t gonna happen anymore. We are fully staffed and ready to go.”
Hynes described real estate crime as “an epidemic” that “demanded an innovative response,” which prompted the funding of the new unit.
The arrests show that “we will not tolerate this type of crime,” said New York State Senator Carl Kruger, who also attended the press conference.
The 12 people indicted include several attorneys and repeat offenders . Some of those indicted face up to 15 years of prison time, including Victor Koltun and Jarrett Haber, who were charged with second-degree grand larceny, residential mortgage fraud and possession of a forged instrument after they allegedly used several Brooklyn homes they did not own to secure a fraudulent $225,000 mortgage.
Read more at the New Deal
