A Jamaica man has been arrested and charged for allegedly stealing $100,000 over the course of five years from a Brooklyn woman who hired him to help save her home from foreclosure.
Ravin Lakhram, 45, was charged with second- and third-degree grand larceny and was ordered to be held on bail of $250,000 bond or $100,000 cash. If convicted, Lakhram faces five to 15 years in prison.
According to the indictment, the victim was afraid that she was going to lose her home on New Jersey Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn, to foreclosure in June 2010. One of her tenants introduced her to Lakhram, who claimed that he could get the victim’s monthly mortgage payments, which totaled approximately $2,600, reduced to $1,567 a month through a modification. Lakhram, however, did nothing to reduce the mortgage payments.
From June 25, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2015, the victim paid the Lakhram approximately $1,567 a month, which he was supposed to put towards her mortgage. Instead, Lahkram allegedly kept the money, which totaled more than $90,000, and did not forward any of it to the companies holding the mortgage.
The victim’s house eventually went into foreclosure and the victim’s attorney referred the case to the District Attorney’s office.
Acting District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said, “When the victim in this case hired the defendant to help save her house she had no idea he was allegedly a heartless crook who was pocketing her hard earned cash, even though he knew his scam would eventually cost her dearly. She’s now lost her home, but we hope to get justice for her by holding this defendant accountable.”
