The Queens DA is going after four people, including one real estate agent, for allegedly stealing three homes from their rightful owners — two of whom were senior citizens.
On Wednesday, Carl Avinger, Autumn Valeri, Lawrence Ray and Torey Guice were arraigned on a 47-count indictment for their alleged roles in a deed fraud scheme involving falsified documents filed with the City Register’s office between March and July 2023.
The four individuals face charges of grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, conspiracy and other crimes for allegedly stealing three homes from their rightful owners in Queens, District Attorney Melinda Katz announced.
“Property ownership is a fundamental right,” Katz said in a statement. “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.”
The scheme began in April 2023 when Avinger and Valeri, a licensed real estate agent and vice president of Fave Realty, allegedly filed fraudulent deed transfer documents, transferring a 76-year-old woman’s Queens Village home to Shuler Management LLC, an entity owned by Ray. Investigators discovered one signature belonged to a co-owner who died in 2016.
Weeks later, the defendants allegedly filed forged documents transferring a Kew Gardens Hills home from its mother-daughter owners to another one of Ray’s companies. By May, they had sold this property to a third party for $600,000, according to the indictment, and approximately $442,000 was wired to an account linked to Ray.
The third party who purchased the property has since filed a civil suit against the legitimate owners, although proceedings have been stayed under legislation enacted in 2023 to protect against deed fraud.
In May 2023, the group also allegedly targeted an 82-year-old woman’s Jamaica Estates home using similar tactics.
All four defendants surrendered to authorities on Wednesday. They are scheduled to return to court on April 29. If convicted, Ray, Valeri and Avinger face up to 25 years in prison, while Guice faces up to 15 years.
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