NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A 31-year-old Florida man who referred to himself as the “Wolf of Airbnb” was arrested for renting out multiple apartments in New York City against his lease rules and not paying rent on the units for years, authorities said Thursday.
Konrad Bicher and a host of associates worked together from at least February 2019 to rent 18 units in Manhattan. As part of the lease agreements for the apartments, short term rentals or subletting of the units were prohibited.
Despite the restrictions, Bicher and his co-conspirators listed and rented the apartments on AirBnB and other online marketplaces. From 2019 to 2022, Bicher and his associates pulled in more than $1 million from the short-term rentals, court documents show.
Along with illegally renting the apartments, Bicher and his pals were not paying rent for more than three years. The renters owed more than $1 million in rent and would often refuse to vacate a unit at the end of a lease agreement, officials said.
Multiple attempts were made by landlords to obtain their rent money, stop the short-term rentals, including suing Bicher in civil court. All the while, Bicher continued to rent out the apartments.
Bicher’s schemes also included fraudulently obtaining a Paycheck Protection Program loan in 2021, submitting at least four applications for PPP loans and receiving over $565,000 loan funds. In order to get them, Bicher falsified IRS tax documents.
Throughout the years, Bicher routinely called himself the “Wolf of Airbnb” explaining that it meant he was “hungry and ruthless enough to get on top of the financial ladder” and had the “ferocity…of a wolf, because wolves are territorial, vicious, and show no mercy when provoked.”
"As alleged, the defendant proudly executed multiple schemes to defraud both private entities and the United States government for his own personal benefit,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael J. Driscoll said. “ The FBI remains committed to not only exterminating fraud in all its forms, but also to ensuring all those who abused a program designed to aid small businesses during an unprecedented global pandemic are held accountable."
Bicher was charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. If convicted, he faces up to 22 years in prison.
Related
Related
