FOREST HILLS — The former managing agent of five apartment buildings in western and southern Queens has been charged with allegedly embezzling nearly $950,000 in tenant maintenance fees, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said this week.
Michael Richter, 50, of Manhasset, L.I., has been charged with five counts of grand larceny and five counts of falsifying business records after he allegedly stole the money from residents in Jamaica, Rego Park, Forest Hills and Elmhurst between January 2004 and August 2009, according to the DA.
Richter and his company, the now-closed Charter Management Realty, worked as the management agent for the Queens apartment buildings, the DA said. As such, building tenants were required to remit their monthly maintenance payments directly to Charter Management, which then allegedly deposited the funds in a bank account. The funds were intended to cover the monthly expenses for each building, such as staff salaries, water bills, insurance, heat and other expenses.
But the DA said Richter instead allegedly stole about $949,877 from the account and falsified the business records of each building by allegedly sending out annual accounting reports that covered up the thefts.
