Four men—two from southeast Queens, one from Long Island, and another from New Jersey—along with three companies, have been indicted by a Queens grand jury for allegedly orchestrating a deed fraud scheme that led to the theft of homes in Kew Gardens Hills, Jamaica Estates, and Queens Village.
Carl Avinger, 42, of 202nd Street in St. Albans, Lawrence T. Ray, 38, of 127th Avenue in Jamaica, and Autumn Valeri, 41, of Commack, and Torey Guice, 40, of Roselle, NJ, surrendered to the Queens District Attorney’s detectives on Tuesday morning and were arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on a 47-count indictment charging them with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, conspiracy, and other related crimes for allegedly stealing the homes from their rightful owners.
“Property ownership is a fundamental right and my office works to protect that right in this borough,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
According to the indictment and the investigation, on April 10, 2023, Avinger and Valeri — who is a licensed real estate agent — acting in concert with two others, filed a false document with the New York City Department of Finance.
It recorded a deed transfer of a home on 208th Street in Jamaica Estates from a 76-year-old woman, who is the rightful property owner, to Shuler Management LLC, owned by Ray. One of the purported signatures on the deed was of a former co-owner who died in 2016. The notary signature on the transfer was also found to be fraudulent.
On April 28, 2023, Avinger, Valeri, and Ray filed a false document with the city’s Department of Finance recording a deed transfer of a home on 61st Road in Kew Gardens Hills from a mother and daughter, who are the rightful owners, to Kubick Ray Kubick LLC, which Ray owns. The signatures on the deed were forged to represent the signatures of both the mother and daughter, who confirmed that they never signed the document. The notary signature on the transfer was also found to be fraudulent.
In May 2023, the 61st Road home was sold to a third party for $600,000. The defendants provided the title company with a fraudulent marriage certificate in the name of one of the victims and a driver’s license for the other victim, along with forged corporate documents. Approximately $442,000 in sales proceeds was wired to a TD Bank account owned by Ray’s LLC.
The third party who purchased the property has since filed a civil suit against the victims, claiming legal rights to the home.
The DA’s office successfully utilized RPAPL 756-A, signed into law in November 2023, to stay the civil proceeding of a title of property that is the subject of a pending deed fraud investigation.
On May 4, 2023, the defendants, acting with two others, filed a false document with the Department of Finance recording a deed transfer of a home on Kendrick Place in Jamaica Estates from an 82-year-old woman, who is the rightful owner to Castaneda Ray Family LLC, owned by Ray. The signature on the deed was forged to represent the signature of the owner, who confirmed that she never signed the document. The notary signature on the transfer was also found to be fraudulent.
“As alleged, the defendants acted in concert to target properties for theft, forge documents, file false instruments and ultimately steal homes from the rightful owners,” Katz said.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Leigh Cheng ordered the defendants to return to court on April 29. Defendants Ray and Valeri face a potential maximum sentence of 8 ⅓ to 25 years in prison, if convicted of the top count. Avinger faces up to 12 ½ to 25 years in prison, and Guice faces up to five to 15 years imprisonment.
“My Housing and Worker Protection Bureau investigates and prosecutes bad actors who often think they can get away with stealing the most valuable asset of Queens residents,” Katz said. “Thank you to my prosecutors, detectives, and analysts for their work on this case.”
