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Grifter Caught Stealing Brownstone From Dead Lady
By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 7, 2009
Modified Apr 7, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 7, 2009
Modified Apr 7, 2009
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Is your home safe from deed fraud? Oh, you rent? Well, is your landlord's home safe? New York prosecutors say deed fraud is on the rise, and they're citing one recent indictment as proof: Brooklyn contractor Enrique Castillo has been charged with forging documents claiming that the deceased owner of a vacant Harlem brownstone had signed the deed over to him. Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau says, "He wanted to make money on the property by selling it," and accuses Castillo of also filing fake mortgage records with the city. According to Morgethau, "This mortgage, in which no money actually changed hands, was in effect a lien on the building so nobody else could get it, sell it." Castillo was caught, prosecutors say, after he tried filing bogus power of attorney forms with the city to wrest control of the brownstone from the dead woman's cousin, who had inherited it. That backfired, and he faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. The scheme is reminiscent of that stunt in which a Daily News reporter forged documents to transfer ownership of the Empire State Building to a non-existent company, just to teach people a lesson... People like Castillo.
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brownstone
harlem
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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