339 West 84th Street.
Landlord John Kojo Zi was sentenced to 12 years in state prison after being convicted of forging deed transfers to five buildings, including three on the Upper West Side. The UWS buildings were 44 West 73rd Street, 339 West 84th Street, and 335 West 84th Street.
“The defendant executed an elaborate scam using forged deed transfers to steal five buildings from Manhattan property owners,” said District Attorney Cyrus Vance. “John Kojo Zi even had the audacity to attempt to collect rent from the tenants and threatened them with eviction if payments were withheld.”
The scheme to take over 44 West 73rd was his “most brazen attempt,” according to Real Estate Weekly.
“In April of 2014, he filed documents that transferred the property from its legitimate owner, Aviation Distributors, to his company, Kojo Global Real Estate Development. To support his claim, Zi said that Aviation Distributors was founded by his father. He also gave the New York City Sheriff’s Office a fraudulent contract that showed Aviation bought the building for $360,000 in 1976.”
Huh?
They should put this guy’s picture in the dictionary next to Chutzpah. Where do people like this come from? Do they think they are so brilliant or that we are all so stupid?
Well done, DA Vance.
Wow, 12 years in prison..most murderers don’t get that much. Don’t mess with UWS landlords!
Then you have sad situations like this:
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/queens-ex-con-pleads-guilty-stealing-elderly-woman-house-article-1.2686723
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/queens-judge-orders-fraudster-serve-full-sentence-article-1.3021176
Only one year in jail for sealing a woman’s home, selling off and or stealing contents wherein, *and* finally destroying the interiors. A year of a three free hots and a cot is nothing to these people.
That and thanks to New York’s lenient sentencing laws criminals rarely serve anywhere near their full time.
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/04/05/deed-theft-early-release/
Do a Google Image search for John Kojo Zi and it’s the “$500,000 wire transfer” e-mail scam come to life.
Where is this guy from? That would seem to be an important issue.
Good-bye to bad rubbish. Should get life!