Lyndon Chin, 54, Northport, New York was indicted today for using a 91-year-old man’s real estate properties to fraudulently obtain $8.5 million in unauthorized mortgage loans.
According to the indictment, documents filed in court, and statements made on the record, Chin had acted as a real estate broker for the 91-year-old victim in prior real estate transactions. In that capacity, the defendant helped the victim with the purchase and sale of residential and commercial real estate and had knowledge of the victim’s properties and the corporation through which he owned them.
In October 2015, Chin used his knowledge of the victim’s real estate holdings to falsify documents in the name of the victim’s company and obtain $5 million in mortgage loans on four of the victim’s Lower Manhattan, New York properties without his knowledge. Chin then opened a bank account in the name of the victim’s corporation and deposited approximately $4.4 million of the fraudulently obtained funds into that account. A large portion of the funds was paid to at least 20 personal and corporate bank accounts, including accounts belonging to members of the defendant’s family, and the remainder was used to cover personal expenses such as car payments, insurance payments, and jewelry.
From March through May 2016, Chin secured another $3.5 million in mortgage loans using similar means and deposited approximately $1.9 million into a bank account that he had opened specifically to receive the funds, before transferring the funds into a different account that he controlled.
The defendant is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with two counts of Grand Larceny in the First Degree. [1]
The conduct was uncovered and the matter was referred to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office after the victim was rejected for a mortgage loan on an unrelated business opportunity due to the existing mortgages that the defendant had fraudulently obtained on his properties. This indictment is the result of a 16-month-long, ongoing investigation by the Office’s Financial Frauds Bureau.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. made the announcement.
“Frauds against seniors and other vulnerable residents of Manhattan will be met with the full force of our laws,” said District Attorney Vance. “As alleged in the indictment, the defendant is charged with exploiting his access to a 91-year-old victim’s business in order to falsify corporate documents and secure more than $8 million in fraudulent mortgage loans in just two years. I encourage all victims of financial crime to call our Financial Frauds Bureau at (212) 335-8900.”
Assistant D.A. Caitlin Naun is handling the prosecution of the case under the supervision of Assistant D.A.s Gloria Garcia, Deputy Chief of the Financial Frauds Bureau, and Archana Rao, Chief of the Financial Frauds Bureau, as well as Executive Assistant D.A. Michael Sachs, Chief of the Investigation Division. Trial Preparation Assistant Kelly Lai, Investigator Michael O’Brien, Financial Investigator Elaine Li, and Chief of the Forensic Accounting and Financial Investigations Bureau Robert Demarest also provided valuable assistance on the case.
[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.