Amsterdam News: $1.6M Harlem brownstone fraud, Solny cases show housing scams targeting Black New Yorkers
An apparent swindle centering on ownership of a home in Harlem has resulted in charges against three people who allegedly stole a property deed from an individual who owned the house for nearly 40 years. Last week, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced indictments in a deed theft and mortgage fraud case that revolved around a Harlem brownstone. The defendants — Angela Jazmin Ramos Malpica, 35; Yuan Kuei Li, 41; and Abdur Rahman, 34 — are accused of taking possession of a property they did not own. They allegedly targeted the family of Okryun Marrero, who had purchased the multifamily home at 267 West 131st Street in 1986.
Marrero died in 2018 and left her home to her husband, children, and grandchildren. But Angela Ramos came forward to claim that she was Marrero’s heir. She signed a deed to claim ownership of the property and then allegedly forged signatures and placed the personal information of true Marrero heirs on other documents, so that she could sell and transfer the title to the home.