2 Attorneys Charged in $3 Million Real Estate Fraud

Mark Fass

New York Law Journal

May 14, 2010

Two Queens, N.Y., lawyers have been charged with participating in a $3 million real-estate fraud ring. Trevor Rupnarain and Shawn Chand, both Richmond Hill, N.Y., solo practitioners, were among 17 defendants charged by the Queens District Attorney's Office with defrauding lenders and homeowners in a variety of fraudulent transactions involving 26 refinanced residential properties.

In some cases, the conspiracy's ringleaders allegedly convinced distressed homeowners in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx to put the title to their homes in the names of straw buyers for one year, during which the defendants promised to improve their credit ratings and obtain more favorable mortgages before returning the title. Instead, the group's leaders held the funds in escrow in order to siphon the proceeds.

Rupnarain and Chand allegedly represented many of the lenders, buyers and sellers at closings, hiding the fraud from the clients and distributing the loan proceeds to themselves and various codefendants.

Both men were charged with grand larceny, identity theft and falsifying business records, among other crimes, and face 15 years in prison, according to a spokesman for the district attorney's office. Twelve of the 17 defendants, including Rupnarain and Chand, have been arrested and are awaiting arraignment.