Two men hatched a plan to pose as the son of a recently deceased Queens homeowner in order take over possession of the residence and sell it, according to the district attorney.
Jorge Vasquez Jr. and Andy Singh were charged in a 10-count indictment, and arraigned on Monday at Queens Supreme Court. The pair face charges including grand larceny, identity theft and other fraud-related charges for their alleged scheme, Queens DA Melinda Katz said.
According to the charges, the owner of the East Elmhurst home died in 2019, and her only biological son inherited the home. About two years later, in Oct. 2021, the son noticed an email from the mother's mortgage company confirming a change in contact information for the house's loan — a change that included an email address unfamiliar to the victim.
When he contacted the company about the change, the mortgage holder told the victim that the mortgage had been paid off earlier that month, the charges stated. He went to visit the home, and saw construction underway at the residence. He soon found that workers had removed personal belongings, like photo albums, from inside and tossed the items into a dumpster out front.
What he saw at the home led the victim to contact Katz's office, which in turn launched an investigation. The DA's office later found that a fraudulent deed had been filed with the city register on Nov. 8, 2021, claiming that the property had been sold for $530,000 on Oct. 4 — the same day the mortgage company stated the house had been paid off.
The fraudulent deed listed 40-year-old Vasquez, of Baldwin, as "sole heir" for the deceased homeowner, and that the home had been sold to 23-41 100th Street Corp., which lists Singh as the chairman and sole shareholder.
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Katz said that the 34-year-old Singh, of the Bronx, called the mortgage company multiple times claiming to be the son of the deceased homeowner, providing the full name of both the mother and son, as well as the homeowner's social security number. While posing as the son, Singh asked for a payoff statement ahead of the sale of "his mother's property."
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Singh allegedly contacted the mortgage company later in the same month, but then claimed to be the deceased homeowner, and again sought a payoff quote, according to Katz, again providing the name and social security number of the woman.
In order to sell the home, Vasquez and Singh had to submit several documents to the title company, including a death certificate and affidavits. The pair submitted a forged death certificate, the district attorney alleged, which stated that the mother died in 2017, when in reality she passed away two years later. The affidavits claiming Vasquez Jr. was the only living heir were also fraudulent, according to the DA.
All of the paperwork had been done and submitted without the son knowing of any of it, prosecutors said.
"Deed fraud is a growing challenge within Queens County, but those who choose to victimize other for their on financial gain will be held to account in this borough," Katz said in a press release.
Both men are scheduled to appear back in court on Aug. 10. If convicted, they each face up to 15 years in prison.
Attorney information for Vasquez Jr and Singh was not immediately available.
