$775K Brooklyn Deed Fraud Scheme Nabbed: DA

BED-STUY, NY — A suspected "fraudster" accused of robbing Brooklyn homeowners of about $775,000 now faces up to nine years in prison, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Wednesday.

Derrick Johnson, also known as Jay Rendell, 60, pleaded guilty to a deed fraud scheme in Bed-Stuy and Bushwick, and stands accused of another mortgage scheme in Park Slope, according to Gonzalez.

"This defendant filed phony deeds and mortgage documents against multiple properties in a brazen real estate scheme that defrauded homeowners and lenders," Gonzalez said in a statement.

Prosecutors say Johnson formed an LLC in 2020 and then, using false identification documents, opened a related bank account, court records show.

He had his partners-in-crime represent the other party in a closing on a Park Slope apartment building so he could obtain a mortgage loan for the property — a $337,825 loot immediately wired to Johnson's fraudulent bank account, court records show.

Similar schemes involving "imposters" and fellow scammers helped Johnson bring in $329,332 on an apartment building on Malcolm X Boulevard in Bed-Stuy and $107,607 in Bushwick, court records show.

Johnson also faces an unrelated weapons charge, for which he failed to appear in court — landing him with a potential nine year prison sentence all together.

Johnson is scheduled for sentencing at the end of August.