A South Ozone Park couple will have to pay more than $380,000 in restitution and void the deeds of five of the homes they stole throughout Southeast Queens over the course of a year as they await sentencing for the crimes to which they pleaded guilty.
According to District Attorney Melinda Katz’s office, Justin Joseph, 45, and his wife, Latoya Hewitt, 49, both confessed to offering a false instrument for filing. In addition, the former also pleaded guilty to scheming to defraud.
Prosecutors said Hewitt was involved in the theft of one home and could face a one-year conditional discharge after she agreed to release her ownership over the stolen home and make restitution of $48,751.48. Her husband, who has agreed to void the deeds of all five properties and make restitution of $335,256.76 could face one to three years in prison. The proceeds are to come from the fraudulent sale of two of the properties.
The DA’s Office said that its Housing & Worker Protection Bureau conducted a long-term investigation into the deed fraud and the duo was arrested on April 12.
“No one should think they will get away with stealing the most valuable asset most people ever work to attain,” Katz said in a statement. “My Housing and Worker Protection Bureau focuses on safeguarding homeowners from predatory real estate scams.”
The bureau had teamed up with the city’s Sheriff Office for the case.
“We are pleased to announce that collaboration between the New York City Sheriff’s Office and the Queens District Attorney’s Office has resulted in two arrests for the theft of Queens properties,” Sheriff Anthony Miranda said in a statement. “We will continue to combat deed fraud and collaborate with our partners in all agencies to bring justice to those criminals victimizing the elderly and families from our communities.”
Katz’ office said that it will file a motion to a state statute to restore the deeds of the homes to the rightful property owners to spare the victims a lengthy and expensive legal proceeding in civil court.
According to the charges and plea agreements, the deed thefts took place in over the course of a year from March 2019 to April 2020.
On March 25, 2019, the couple filed a false document with the city Department of Finance, which recorded that a deed was transferred on a house on Pinegrove Street in Jamaica from a 78-year-old woman to Joseph and Hewitt. The notary public whose signature seal was on the document denied that it was his signature and said the insignia was inauthentic.
Acting in concert with her husband, Hewitt sold the home in November 2019 for $315,000 after obtaining a forged death certificate to facilitate the transaction. She received a check for proceeds of $48,751.48 and her husband and mother-in-law received $40,000 each.
In September 2019, Joseph filed a false deed transferring a Springfield Gardens property on 181st Street to himself by forging the signature of the rightful owner, who lived elsewhere. Two months later, the home sold for $355,000 and he received a check for $255,256.76. The homeowner would later drive by the property only to find a new home built in its place after the original house was demolished.
In December 2019, Joseph submitted another false deed for a Jamaica home on 155th Street and falsely represented that he bought the property for $50,000.
Three months later, Joseph submitted a fraudulent deed transfer to the city and forged the signature of the rightful owner of a property on 207th Street in Queens Village. A month later, Joseph submitted another deed transfer for a property in 131st Street in South Ozone Park, forging the real owner’s signature, and created a fake identity for himself, according to the charges.
He will be sentenced on June 18.
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