THE BIG DRAIN ON THE SYSTEM

FBI arrests 14 for mortgage fraud, including some with Monsey connections

FBI RELEASE

Federal prosecutors led by Preet Bharara (pictured right), the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, and George Venizelos, the assistant director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), arrested 14 New Yorkers for an alleged wide-ranging “poor man’s” mortgage fraud scheme that encompassed parts of Brooklyn, Manhattan Orange County (Kiryas Joel), and Monsey.

The alleged fraud was perpetrated primarily byt members of the Rubin family, but the clan’s appraiser, Pinchus Glauber, age 53, is known to reside in Monsey.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: “The charges unsealed today describe a sweeping and cynical fraud. As alleged, the scheme carried out by the Rubins and others ripped off banks, welfare programs, and taxpayers. It ranged from 2004 to 2014, from Brooklyn to Harlem to Orange County, and the individuals involved alternately played the parts of prince or pauper, depending on which scam was being perpetrated. Now their alleged double dealing will be stopped, and they will have to submit to the truth-seeking process of the criminal justice system.”

FBI Assistant Director George Venizelos stated: “In a clear case of double dipping, the defendants convinced lenders of their affluence while allegedly accepting aid from government programs established for the benefit of those less fortunate, profiting from the proceeds of millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained loans and significantly defrauding the government of public money. May today’s charges remind those who poke holes in the government safety net and exploit gaps in the mortgage and banking sectors that they will face the error of their ways.”

Irving Rubin, a defendant, was a purported real estate developer. Irving Rubin’s son, Yehuda Rubin, a defendant, was a purported mortgage broker and real estate developer. Irving Rubin, as well as his brothers Abraham Rubin, Jacob Rubin, and Samuel Rubin, a defendants; his sons Yehuda Rubin and Joel Rubin, the defendants; his wife, Desiree Rubin, a defendant; and his relatives-in-law Joel Koppel, Benzion Kraus, Rifka Rubin, Rachel Rubin, and Rivky Rubin, all defendants, claimed to own properties in Brooklyn, New York, as well as in Manhattan and Orange County, New York. Martin Kofman, a defendant, was a real estate lawyer licensed to practice in New York. Pinchus Glauber, a real estate appraiser licensed in New York.

The FBI alleges that from at least in or about 2004 through in or about 2014, the defendants fraudulently obtained mortgage loans and other loans from banks and other lending institutions totaling up to $20 million in value.