FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT - Queens County District ...

DISTRICT ATTORNEY
QUEENS COUNTY
125-01 QUEENS BOULEVARD
KEW GARDENS, NEW YORK 11415-1568
718-286-6000
Release #149-2011
www.queensda.org
RICHARD A. BROWN
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: QDA PRESS
TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2011 (718) 286-6315
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH $50,000 RENTAL APARTMENT SCHEME
Allegedly Took Deposits From Twenty Prospective Tenants For Space That Was Not Available
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today that a Richmond Hill, Queens
man has been charged with taking approximately $53,300 in security deposits from prospective
tenants for the same apartment in his residence although, in fact, it was never available for rent.
District Attorney Brown said, “The victims in this case were simply looking for a place to
live when they were allegedly tricked by the defendant into handing over thousands of dollars in
security deposits although the apartment he purportedly promised to rent them was never actually
available for rent. Preying on people in these tough economic times is especially heinous.”
District Attorney Brown asked that anyone who believes that he or she may have been a
victim of the defendants’ alleged scheme to contact his Economic Crimes Bureau at 718-286-6673.
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Shahab Khan, 32, of 86-46 127 th Street in
Richmond Hill, Queens. Shahab was arraigned today before Queens Criminal Court Judge Ira
Margulis on a criminal complaint charging him with two counts of third-degree grand larceny, six
counts of fourth-degree grand larceny and one count of first-degree scheme to defraud. He faces up
to seven years in prison on each of the third-degree grand larceny counts and up to four years on the
fourth-degree grand larceny counts if convicted. He was ordered held on $50,000 bail and to return
to court on September 6, 2011.
Khan was additionally arrested on another criminal complaint on August 19, 2011 with 11
counts of fourth-degree grand larceny and one count of first-degree scheme to defraud. He was
arraigned on that complaint on August 20, 2011 and released without bail. He was ordered to return
to court on October 4, 2011 and faces up to four years in prison on each of the grand larceny counts
if convicted.
District Attorney Brown said that, according to the criminal complaints, between May 31,
2011 and August 10, 2011, the defendant allegedly advertised the first floor apartment located at
his residence in Richmond Hill, Queens, on Craigslist and showed it to 20 prospective tenants on
various occasions and accepted security deposits and first month’s rent ranging from $2,000 to
$4,350 from the complainants.
The complaints further charge that when the prospective tenants tried to arrange a move-in
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date they were variously allegedly stalled by the defendant who allegedly made up excuses as to why
they could not move in as scheduled including that his brother had been murdered, that his wife had
miscarried, that his brother had been killed in a car accident, that his wife had fallen down a flight
of stairs, that the apartment was being painted and that a pipe had burst inside of the apartment.
The complaints further state that on at least one occasion a man identifying himself as the
defendant’s father told one of the complainants who tried to move in: “This is my house, you’re not
moving in.” On another occasion, according to the complaint, a woman believed to be the
defendant’s mother returned $1,300 to a complainant who had given the defendant a $3,500 security
deposit.
The investigation was conducted by Detectives Timothy Feehan and Michael Curley of the
New York City Police Department’s 102 nd Precinct Detective Squad, under the supervision of
Lieutenant William O’Sullivan.
Assistant District Attorney Lauren D. Steele, of the District Attorney’s Economic Crimes
Bureau, is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Gregory C.
Pavlides, Bureau Chief, and Christina Hanophy, Deputy Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision
of Executive Assistant District Attorney of the Investigations Division Peter A. Crusco and Deputy
Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.
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Note to Editor: An e-version of this press release is posted on QDA website at www.queensda.org.