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Which Owner’s New York City Apartment Buildings Did A Property Manager Use As His Piggy Bank?
May 5, 2010 by Neil · Leave a Comment
Property manager Luis Nunez was indicted for stealing more than $879,000 from three corporations that own five rental apartment buildings near Columbia University.
Nunez was the sole property manager for the buildings and was responsible for nearly every aspect of their operation, from day to day upkeep to signing leases on behalf of the owners, collecting rents from tenants, making bank deposits, and maintaining the rent rolls and financial records.
In June 2005, Nunez began taking rent money from new tenants of one building and depositing the money into his personal accounts. He falsely told some new tenants that he owned the building, and directed them to make the rent checks payable to him personally. Many of the tenants were students at Columbia University. Over the next several months, Nunez was given management responsibility over additional buildings acquired by the company that employed him. This enabled him to expand his larcenous scheme and steal from multiple buildings simultaneously.
Nunez was responsible for updating information in the computer software program used by the owners to manage the buildings, including inputting all information about the tenants and their rent payments. Nunez systematically manipulated and falsified the records to conceal his thefts from the owners. In some instances, Nunez failed to enter new tenant data into the system, leaving the true owners without accurate records of who lived in the buildings, and enabling Nunez to pocket the full rental income from those apartments.
Nunez used the stolen money to enhance his lifestyle, buying furniture, jewelry, and appliances, paying school tuition, and maintaining multiple cars. But in his defense (?), he also made sizable donations of stolen money to his church.
The Manhattan DA has not shared with the public how authorities cracked the case.
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The apartment buildings are located at 41 Tiemann Place, 184 Claremont Avenue, 186 Claremont Avenue, 188 Claremont Avenue, and 3139 Broadway.
Long Island investor Farzad “Frank” Shahery owns the New York multifamily properties in question.
