NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Brooklyn man is facing charges after he allegedly used forged paperwork to claim ownership of a Jamaica home from a widow by claiming she died and that he was her son with forged documents and then sold it for nearly $300,000.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Friday that Christopher Williams, 41, has been charged with grand larceny, falsifying business records, identity theft, scheme to defraud and other crimes for the scheme.
According to the charges, the widow and her sister inherited the home from their father, who passed away in 2011. Two years later, one sister bought out the other and became the sole owner of the Dunlop Avenue home. The residence remained empty for several years, with the victim planning renovations that became stalled due to COVID-19.
Then, in August 2021, the homeowner received a notification that a new deed, mortgage and other documents had been filed with the Office of the City Register regarding the ownership of the two-story home.
Investigators would eventually find that in early August 2021, deed-transfer documents were filed with the New York City Department of Finance, Office of the City Register transferring ownership of the home to Williams, Katz said.
The criminal complaint said that the property was sold by Williams for $270,000 on August 6, 2021. Documents show a deed transfer was submitted along with notification that a mortgage in the amount of $360,000 had been acquired against the property by the new owner.
Katz said that in order to sell the home, Williams was required to submit several documents, including his birth certificate and the death certificates for the victim and her father, who was a retired police officer. These documents were provided, and the closing proceeded.
But a review of the birth certificate listed the victim as the Williams' mother, even though her last name was misspelled, Katz said. It also included a forged death certificate for the victim, which included the property's address and her date of death as July 9, 2017.
The victim was "very much still alive," Katz noted.
""As alleged, the defendant scammed his way into ownership of property that was never legally his before selling the house for hundreds of thousands of dollars," the DA said in a statement. "Deed fraud is unfortunately on the rise throughout the borough and oftentimes, the rightful property owner is not aware that their home was taken away through fraudulent means."
Williams was arraigned on Thursday night and faces up to 15 years in prison, if convicted.
He is due back in court next month.
