Fraudster Who Stole 2 Harlem Brownstones Is Arrested, AG Says

HARLEM, NY — A Long Island man has been arrested and charged with using forged documents to steal two Harlem brownstones worth more than $4 million, the state attorney general's office said Thursday.

Joseph Makhani, 58, used falsified deeds and other fake documents to steal a brownstone at 107 West 118th St. and another at 135 West 131st St., according to Attorney General Letitia James. He still owns the first building, while the second was repossessed in 2018 due to unpaid tax liens.

The alleged scheme began in 2012, when Makhani swiped the 118th Street building from its elderly disabled owner — then filed taxes claiming he had paid just $10 for it, according to an indictment. He separately claimed he had paid $975,000 in order to get a $650,000 construction line of credit, and got a $1.2 million mortgage loan by falsely claiming he owned the building legitimately, prosecutors said.

Makhani later renovated the building to create separate rental apartments, from which he drew about $12,000 in monthly income, authorities said. The brownstone is now worth about $2.29 million, but the elderly owner has never gotten a cent.

Makhani acquired the 131st Street brownstone through a mix of "fraudulent deeds, shell companies, and strawmen," James said.

After the rightful owner died in 2010, Makhani approached the brownstone's tenant and got their signature by falsely claiming he was offering them a job, James said. Makhani used the signature to claim the tenant was the brownstone's owner, and later filed a forged deed to transfer the brownstone to his shell company, prosecutors said.

Makhani continued to file forged documents even after the tenant went to court to dispute the deed, prosecutors said. In 2015, Makhani and his company were fined more than $1 million for the building's dilapidated state, including roach infestations and a missing roof, prompting him to eventually abandon the building.

The brownstone was transferred to a nonprofit and is now worth $1.9 million.

Makhani, who was previously convicted in 1998 for participating in a fraud scheme in Queens, faces a raft of charges in the Harlem scheme. He pleaded not guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court on Wednesday, the New York Post reported, and is next due in court on Oct. 12.

"Homeownership is a critical part of every community, but far too often, individuals like Joseph Makhani conduct elaborate schemes designed to steal New Yorkers’ homes," James said in a statement.

"Deed theft continues to be a crime that permeates our neighborhoods, and preys upon our most vulnerable, leading to a cycle of displacement and grief. New Yorkers should never have to fear that their homes will be targeted by predatory individuals."