Suits: Rabbi's R/E Acquisition Formula: Borrow Funds Against Properties After Using Forged Deeds To Snatch Title; Slow-Footed Cops Yet To Act

In New York City, Real Estate Weekly reports:

• A web of lawsuits have been woven around an allegedly crooked rabbi accused of forging paperwork to steal a whole building. According to court records and knowledgeable sources, Benjamin Herbst and cohorts have been the focus of a number of real estate lawsuits similar to the one Real Estate Weekly reported last week he is involved in at the midtown office building 315 West 35th Street.



• The court cases and lawyers involved in them accuse Herbst and his associates of taking part in a number of schemes in which they have forged documents and signatures in order to gain title to properties they do not own and also leverage money against them.



• “It’s like the Leonardo DiCaprio movie Catch Me If You Can, but instead of just forging checks this guy forges deeds,” said attorney Stephen Meister, who is involved in one of the lawsuits.



• Last week, Real Estate Weekly reported that 315 West 35th Street, an office building in Manhattan, had fallen victim to such a scam.

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• “The court cases speak for themselves,” [an attorney for one victim] told REW. “What I don’t understand is why the authorities have not moved to do something about this.”

For more, see Lawsuits pile up against accused rabbi.