In some cases, homeowners said the investors got them to sign over the deeds to their homes before the sales went through, claiming it was a normal part of the short-sale process. According to court documents, one couple lost $100,000 that was earmarked to aid an ill relative. 3, Docket Entry No. The suit is brought pursuant to the False Claims Act (FCA) and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA). David Noel Kelley (212) 698-3500. 1.1 196. United States Attorneys Office Jan. 18, 2017))). 28, 28(d), 32, 32(f)), the Indictment also states that Aronov, Konstantinovskiy, and Tarshish, "together with others, worked on fraudulent short sales coordinated by Aronov," to the primary benefit of MIP, (Ind. Age: 40 These payments by HUD were artificially inflated as a result of the defendants fraudulent conduct," officials said. In its opposition, the Government argues that "the Indictment is more than sufficient to put Herskowitz on notice as to those charged crimes" and "to the extent that Herskowitz complains about the quantity of evidence set forth in the Indictment, there is simply no requirement that an Indictment set forth the government's evidence, explain how it will prove the charges or allege all the specific facts that show that the defendant is guilty of the charged crimes." The indictment comes amid a larger crackdown on predatory real estate investment targeting New Yorkers who remain in foreclosure, dubbed an epidemic of fraud by an investigative grand jury last year. Before pleading guilty to embezzling $58 million, real estate developer Michael D'Alessio was the portrait of generosity. An indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Iskyo Aronov, Michael Konstantinovskiy, Tomer Dafna, Avraham Tarshish and Michael Herskowitz with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and related wire fraud counts, in connection with a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders, including the Federal National Mortgage 9, 14.) Another alleged co-conspirator was arrested in Florida. (quoting United States v. Coffey, 361 F.Supp.2d 102, 111 (E.D.N.Y. (quoting United States v. Silverman, 430 F.2d 106, 111 (2d Cir. Court Reporter/Transcriber David R. Roy, Telephone number (718) 613-2609. 2005))); Coffey, 361 F.Supp.2d at 111 ("[T]he validity of an indictment is tested by its allegations, not by whether the Government can prove its case." Herskowitz also argues that the "allegations do not show that his participation in the closings was with any kind of guilty knowledge," and instead the "factual detail in the Indictment negates any inference of even an implicit understanding [of the conspiracy]" by making clear that he "was a closing agent and nothing more, who was used by his co-Defendants rather than being a partner in crime with them." 2015) ("At trial, the [government must prove that [the] [d]efendant knowingly and willfully became a member of the conspiracy. From December 2012 to January 2019, Iskyo Aronov, Michael Konstantinovskiy, Tomer Dafna, Avraham Tarshish and . Tracy Tutor Shows Off the Jaw-dropping Results of Her Recent Home Renovation. (Id. If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum of 30 years imprisonment and a $1 million fine. If that property cant be easily forfeited for instance, if a house has been resold theyll have to give up other assets. Aronov: Company Services Retail Commercial Residential Resorts Third Party Management Insurance 3500 Eastern Boulevard, Montgomery, AL 36116 Mailing Address: P.O. In a short sale, with the approval of the mortgage lender or servicer, a mortgage loan borrower sells his or her property for less than the outstanding balance of the mortgage loan. 183.). As one of the franchise's original cast members, Fredrik was a huge part of Million Dollar Listing's success. BROOKLYN, NY Nine homes in Brooklyn were wrapped up in a massive mortgage scam that has prompted a civil suit from the U.S. government, prosecutors announced this week. After the sale is approved, HUD covers the outstanding mortgage balance,plus approved costs and interest, using federal funds. iskyo aronov million dollar listing patton development company. As a result, the Second Circuit "ha[s] consistently upheld indictments that do little more than to track the language of the statute charged and state the time and place (in approximate terms) of the alleged crime." He was successfully renovating apartment buildings on the Upper East Side, as well as homes in blue-chip Westchester and beachfront Hamptons. If 25 (emphasis added)). provisions of the FCA. ), On April 30, 2021, Herskowitz moved to dismiss the Indictment pursuant to Rules 12(b)(2) and (b)(3)(B)(v) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure for "fail[ing] to give [n]otice of the criminal acts allegedly committed as required by Due Process of Law." NOTICE OF FILING OF OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT of Proceedings as to Iskyo Aronov, Michael Konstantinovskiy, Tomer Dafna, Avraham Tarshish, Michael Herskowitz held on October 2, 2019, before Judge Margo K. Brodie. The "Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles" star and celebrity broker, 36, bought a famous manse in the coveted Flats neighborhood of Beverly Hills with an asking price of $9,200,000. Updated Jun 15, 2022 at 12:02am. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. ISKYO ARONOV, MICHAEL KONSTANTINOVSKIY, TOMER DAFNA, AVRAHAM TARSHISH, and MICHAEL HERSKOWITZ, Defendants. (quoting United States v. Gonzalez, 686 F.3d 122, 127 (2d Cir. We already knew that one longtime cast member was leaving the show and now two more. Iskyo Aronov Represented by. (Id. That may be a good thing for the borrowers, said Catherine Isobe, senior staff attorney at Brooklyn Legal Services, who has worked on foreclosure cases for years. Facebook gives people the power to. These payments by HUD were artificially inflated as a result of the defendants fraudulent conduct. HUD, in turn, pays the lenders claim from federal funds. [1] The "groupings" are: (1) "[f]rom approximately December [of] 2012 through December [of] 2016, [Aronov, Konstantinovskiy and Tarshish], together with others, worked on fraudulent short sales coordinated by [Aronov] where the primary beneficiaries of the Short Sale Scheme were the owners of MIP," and (2) "[f]rom approximately January [of] 2014 through January [of] 2019, [Aronov, Tarshish, Dafna and Herskowitz], together with others, worked on fraudulent short sales where the primary beneficiaries of the Short Sale Scheme were [Dafna and Tarshish]." The reality star has been spending most of her time selling LA mansions since season 12 wrapped. The Bravo reality star, 43, has been renting in LA since relocating from the East Coast in 2018; Then It Was Sold On Reality TV. Viewers will get to see the big celebrity homes in the upcoming season of the reality show. The father of five picked up tabs at fancy Italian restaurants and doted on his disabled daughter. Aronov appeared in court in Miami and his bond was set at $500,000, according to court papers. What makes their alleged crimes even more egregious was their artificial devaluation of properties that, when resold or flipped, resulted in large profits, said Special Agent in Charge Christina Scaringi of the US Department of Housing and Urban Developments Office of Inspector General, one of several agencies involved in the investigation. He was sentenced to six years in federal prison and will begin serving time by June 5. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS (Id.) Her work has appeared on NBC News shows, NBCNews.com, The Guardian, The Nation and Vice, among other outlets. If 25).) An indictment is to be "read 'to include facts which are necessarily implied by the specific allegations' therein." 1344 (1990); see also United States v. Calderon, 944 F.3d 72, 91 (2d Cir. Their Home Was In Foreclosure. 2017). 74, 78 (2d Cir. Aronov appeared in court in Miami and his bond was set at $500,000, according to court papers. [He] had more money than me. of Def. L.A. real estate agent Tracy Tutor has listed a lot of homes on Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles, and in 2019 she repped a very special property: her own. At least 20 people have been convicted in alleged scams. He hosted friends at his $13 million home in Water Mill, LI, to play tennis and feast on meals cooked by his private chef. RON BOROVINSKY Hollis Hills, New York. The complaint, unsealed Tuesday afternoon by U.S. District Judge Margo K. Brodie, alleges that Iskyo Aronov, Ron Borovinsky, Michael Konstantinovskiy and companies that they owned or controlled. 's Reply 1-2 (citing Ind. (Id. "An indictment is sufficient if it 'first, contains the elements of the offense charged and fairly informs a defendant of the charge against which he must defend, and, second, enables him to plead an acquittal or conviction in bar of future prosecutions for the same offense."' Secure .gov websites use HTTPS The scam in Monday's lawsuit caused millions of dollars in damages to the Federal Housing Administration since the men would file false or misleading documents so the sales would be approved by the federal government, prosecutors said. In May 2018, he filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy, sending eight of his properties into foreclosure. (Def. 's Mot. Age: 33 It's no secret that Josh's wife is incredibly successful when it comes to real estate, but there is one thing . 2019) ("[T]he court must assume that the [i]ndictment's allegations are true for the purposes of a motion to dismiss.'" \ 19), and specifically alleges that Herskowitz was involved in the purchase of 1219 Jefferson Avenue and 2403 Dean Street, (id. But that can be a long road, and one more difficult if borrowers were deep in debt. 2011); then citing 1-19 Modern Federal Jury Instructions-Criminal 19.01; then citing Wong Tai v. United States, 273 U.S. 77, 81 (1927); and then citing United States v. Wydermyer, 51 F.3d 319, 325-26 (2d Cir. Odabi and his co-conspirators callously abused the trust of an elderly victim to line their pockets with millions in stolen cash, stated United States Attorney Peace. Families with children account for 61% of New York Citys unhoused people, or 34,456 of 56,334 total, according to thedaily census. If you would like to sponsor a notice, a photo, or an article about your favorite organization, or even wish a loved one Happy Birthday, send your content to Jennifer Hopewell, [emailprotected]. Herskowitz argues that because the factual allegations in the Indictment make clear that "he was not one of those [Defendants] involved in the MIP Scheme," (Def. Seth D. DuCharme, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Christina Scaringi, Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General, Northeast Region (HUD-OIG), and Robert Manchak, Special Agent-in-Charge, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region (FHFA-OIG), announced the filing. Email address: drroyofcr@gmail.com. Luis D. Ortiz released a lengthy statement on his Instagram page on Thursday following the news that Johnny Depp had won his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard, who claimed to be a survivor of . As alleged in the complaint, from at least 2013 through 2016, the defendants defrauded HUD by manipulating the short sale process to acquire residential properties from numerous distressed homeowners for below-fair market value prices in non-arms-length transactions. What makes their alleged crimes even more egregious was their artificial devaluation of properties that, when resold or flipped, resulted in large profits. Main Office (Serhants representative did not return a request for comment.). Just a case of disgruntled seasoned real-estate investors with big damaged egos.. It seemed like the interest payments would mitigate profits.. The governments complaint intervenes in a lawsuit originally brought by under the qui tam provisions of the FCA. Aronov and Konstantinovskiywere also charged in 2019. Iskyo Aronov (also known as "Isaac Aronov") Middle Village, New York, Ron Borovinsky, Hollis Hills, New York and Michael Konstantinovskiy, Roslyn Heights, New York have been charged in a wide-ranging mortgage fraud scheme to defraud the government. In furtherance of the Exclusive Homes Scheme, Herskowitz "wired $239, 483.88 to the [mortgage loan] servicer in connection" with the short sale transaction to purchase 177 Lewis Avenue. We are proud to have partnered with the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of New York in this case, stated FHFA-OIG Special Agent-in-Charge Manchak. Assistant United States Attorney Shannon C. Jones . (Def. at 506. ff 32, 32(f)). 19-CR-0408,, Full title:UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. ISKYO ARONOV, MICHAEL KONSTANTINOVSKIY, TOMER, Court:UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK. The Government is not required in the Indictment to present the evidence through which it will prove Herskowitz knowingly conspired to facilitate the MIP Scheme when he assisted in the relevant short sale transactions. The series is a spinoff of "Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles," which premiered on Bravo in 2006. I called him and said, What the fk are you doing? Accordingly, the Court finds that the Indictment is constitutionally sufficient and further finds that the inconsistency identified by Herskowitz is not sufficient to warrant dismissal of Count One, nor the related substantive counts of wire fraud charged in Counts Four and Seven. 's Mem. (Def. featured on the reality TV show Million Dollar Listing New York. In October 2020, the mother of two sold a waterfront property in Laguna Beach for $14.25 million. An eight-count indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Marat Lerner, president of the Lerner Group, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering , [Marat Lerner], Lerner Group, With todays sentence, Edward Bohm has been deservedly punished for his role in a fraudulent scheme that deceived banks that trusted and relied upon him as a business partner. (Ind. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG) is committed to holding accountable those who waste, steal, or abuse the resources of the Government-Sponsored Enterprises regulated by FHFA. He said he would cut back by no longer going to his golf club, recalled the real estate pro, who lost around $70,000. We done some digging to find out whether she has had any work done. For the reasons set forth below, the Court denies Herskowitz's motion to dismiss the Indictment. Million Dollar Listing New York S03. The New York Post reported last month that his firm scored its first (multi) million-dollar listing: 355 Ocean Boulevard, the largest single-family oceanfront property in Miami. 2000)). The defendants also took steps to preclude other prospective purchasers from making higher offers for properties by failing to market properties as required by the lenders, and by filing fraudulent liens on properties. The L.A.-based realtors have been brutally fighting with one another for 10 seasons on Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles, but after years of watching their arguments disrupt parties, cause. Josh's co-stars James Harris and David Parnes also made the list after they sold the most expensive home in L.A. history at a whopping $120 million. 's Mem. 14.) Two of them also were released on bond, including Michael Herskowitz, a 40-year-old Brooklyn lawyer. (quoting De La Pava, 268 F.3d at 162)). (Id. 41-42) - for his involvement in specified financial transactions alleged to have been undertaken in furtherance of the MIP and Exclusive Homes Schemes. Please complete the form below and click on SIGN UP to receive daily e-newsletters from. ("Counts One and Two"), and substantive counts of wire fraud related to specific transactions in violation of 18 U.S.C. Tomer Dafna Age: 48 Great Neck, New York. See Stringer, 730 F.3d at 124 ("An indictment 'need not be perfect, and common sense and reason are more important than technicalities.'" According to prosecutors, DAlessio was charged with funneling some $58 million money that should have been used for renovations through a network of more than 200 bank accounts. The Short Sale Schemes "originated at [My Ideal Property ('MIP')] under the direction of [Aronov] with the assistance of [Konstantinovskiy and Tarshish], Short-Sale Co-Conspirators 1, 2 and 3, and others" (the "MIP Scheme") and the scheme was later replicated by Tarshish and Dafna "at Exclusive Homes with the assistance of Short-Sale Co-Conspirator 2 and others" (the "Exclusive Homes Scheme"). Ryan Serhant, of Million Dollar Listing New York fame, was the broker on at least one of DAlessios projects. Rule 12(b)(3)(B) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. (Gov't Opp'n 10.) Contact Lisa Riordan Seville at tom.gara+lisariordanseville@buzzfeed.com. He hung up on me.. Million Dollar Listing 's Matt Altman Spotted Out With Wife After Her Domestic Violence Arrest August 18, 2022 Wife of Million Dollar Listing 's Matt Altman Arrested and Charged with Domestic. 's Mem. After the approved short sale, HUD covers the outstanding mortgage balance not covered by sale proceeds using federal funds. Prosecutors described a Ponzi scheme in which DAlessio used money from new investors to pay off established ones. Million Dollar Listing's Fredrik Eklund splashes out $7M on 5-bed, 8-bath mansion in Beverly Hills. Finally, the Court rejects Herskowitz's argument that Count One should be dismissed because he is not consistently identified as "one of those involved in the MIP Scheme." [DAlessio] is a guy who got too big for his own britches., In an email published by Westchester County Business, DAlessio claimed: There was absolutely no fraud committed. b. [That] should have been a red flag, one real estate pro told The Post of the high-risk gamble. U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York, Defendants Allegedly Engaged in a Scheme to Purchase Real Estate at Fraudulently Depressed Short Sale Prices Resulting in Millions of Dollars in False Claims Submitted to HUDs FHA Mortgage Insurance Program, United States Files Civil Fraud Suit Against Three Individuals and Multiple Real Estate Companies Alleging Mortgage Fraud Scheme, Owner of Brooklyn-Based Credit Counseling Business Indicted for Defrauding Clients, , , , Former Owner and Executive at Long Island Mortgage Lender Sentenced to 24 Months' Imprisonment for $8.9 Million Fraud. Box 235000, Montgomery, AL 36123-5000 1349 and 3551 et seq. Lukas Vrbka is an independent reporter and researcher based in Brooklyn. in Supp. Email us at exclusive@the-sun.com or call 212 416 4552. I need the fking money! recalled the insider. 2017) (alteration in original) (quoting United States v. Pirro, 212 F.3d 86, 92 (2d Cir. 1343, 2, and 3551 et seq. Our daily newsletter is FREE and keeps you up to date with the world of mortgage. A locked padlock Contact Lukas Vrbka at tom.gara+lukasvrbka@buzzfeed.com. MARGO K. BRODIE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE. Neither Aronovs attorney nor those for the three other defendants, Michael Konstantinovskiy, Tomer Dafna, and Avraham Tarshish, replied to requests for comment. The governments complaint intervenes in a lawsuit originally brought by under thequi tam provisions of the FCA. ATL. The partners negotiated with banks to let the property go for far less than market rate, a process known as short selling. If a homeowner obtains approval for a short sale, the lender releases the mortgage after the short sale and submits an FHA insurance claim to HUD to cover the outstanding mortgage balance net of the short sale proceeds, plus approved costs and interest. Have a question about Government Services? United States v. Faison, 393 Fed.Appx. 1343 (2008); see also Fountain v. United States, 357 F.3d 250, 252 (2d Cir. Specify your area of interest and attach your resume to Joe Messina here. This Office is committed to protecting the integrity of the FHA insurance program from those who try to enrich themselves through predatory mortgage fraud schemes..
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iskyo aronov million dollar listing