You are reading

Queens DA Launches Bureau Targeting Predatory Lenders and Housing Scammers

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, (Twitter)

June 3, 2020 By Christian Murray

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz has established a new bureau tasked with investigating and prosecuting predatory lenders, housing scammers and contractors who fail to pay their employees prevailing wage.

The new unit, called the Housing and Worker Protection Bureau, will work with other agencies to prosecute con artists and unfair employers.

“Far too often, people are swindled into giving away their property. Unscrupulous criminals often target elderly or vulnerable people in real estate scams convincing them to sign on a dotted line that literally gives away their home,” Katz said in a statement. “This new bureau will investigate those crimes.”

The new bureau will not only focus on prosecuting these crimes but also educating the community on how to avoid being victims.

The unit will also target contractors who take money-saving shortcuts at the expense of worker safety; employers who skim wages from their employees; and those who refuse to pay the prevailing wage.

The bureau will be run by William Jorgenson, a career prosecutor who over the course of three decades has handled homicide and narcotics trials, insurance-fraud investigations and financial crimes.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Flushing sex trafficking ring exposed, manager and enforcer convicted of brutal crimes: Feds

The manager and enforcer of a Flushing-based sex trafficking and prostitution ring were convicted on Tuesday by a federal jury in Brooklyn on felony charges, including assault in aid of racketeering and Hobbs Act robbery, following a month-long trial.

The jury found Siyang Chen, 35, of Queens, guilty of sex trafficking conspiracy, several assaults in-aid-of-racketeering, and Hobbs Act conspiracy and convicted Yichu Chen, 22, also of Queens, of the robbery and assault of a sex worker. Siyang Chen has now been convicted on all counts in a superseding indictment with which he was charged. When sentenced, he faces up to life in prison, and Yichu Chen faces up to 20 years in prison.

Whitestone man arrested for allegedly running $1M cable theft operation: DA

A Whitestone man was arrested for allegedly making and distributing forged modem devices filled with malware that mimics legitimate cable and streaming services in a takedown of a major cable theft operation in Flushing and Whitestone, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Tuesday.

Kong Gao, 35, of 154th Street in Whitestone, was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Nov. 15 on a criminal complaint charging him with fraudulent making of an electronic device and criminal possession of forgery devices after approximately 200 of the fraudulent modem devices were seized from his home.