By Courtney Dentch
An unlicensed real estate broker from Laurelton has been charged with organizing a scheme to steal more than $1 million by staging fake closings on six southeast Queens homes and selling the properties out from under their true owners, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Denise Smith, 49, was indicted last week along with a Jamaica man, a Ridgewood man and 14 others on allegations they used false documents and identities to obtain $1,003,950 in mortgage loans for single-family houses in South Ozone Park, Jamaica and St. Albans, Brown said.
“The defendants are accused of turning real estate closings into a game of charades in which nothing was authentic except the money that changed hands,” said Brown in a statement. “They are alleged to have defrauded two mortgage companies of over $1 million by staging sham real estate closings.”
Smith, of 135-22 225th St., along with four other principal defendants from outside Queens, allegedly arranged six mortgages ranging from $148,500 to 211,500 as part of the sale of six houses, Brown said. The mortgages were taken from Interstate Resource Corp. of Newburgh, N.Y. and Equicredit Corp. of Florida, but the defendants allegedly staged the rest of the purchase, from hiring people to pose as the actual home owners to providing false documents on the properties, Brown said.
“The actual owners of the properties were unaware that their homes were being sold out from under them or that their identities had been stolen,” he said.
The so-called home closings took place between June 30, 1999 and March 1, 2000 for houses at 120-20 131st St. and 114-50 141st St., both in South Ozone Park; 141-31 158th St., 110-24 166th St. and 119-72 Merrick Blvd. in Jamaica; and 118-16 205th St. in St. Albans, Brown said.
The five primary defendants, including Smith, have been charged with enterprise corruption, conspiracy, grand larceny, forgery, and other counts, Brown said. If convicted, they could face 25 years in prison, he said.
While Smith, who is not licensed to sell real estate, and the other principal defendants are charged with organizing the transactions, 12 others have been accused of helping them by using forged papers, such as drivers licenses, property deeds, loan applications, and state and federal tax forms to impersonate the home owners and secure the mortgages, Brown said. These defendants, including Michael Swarez, 38, of 139-30 Glassboro Ave. in Jamaica, and Steven Faucette, 41, of 29 Eldert St. in Ridgewood, have been indicted on similar charges, with the exception of enterprise corruption, and could face 15 years in prison of convicted, Brown said.
“These individuals not only stole the identities of homeowners and then impersonated them at staged closings, they also conned mortgage companies out of more than $1 million,” said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. “Identity theft is a serious crime that leaves banks open to heavy losses and exposes honest people to ruined credit ratings.”
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
