A jury found developer Eliyahu Ezagui guilty on all counts of his indictment in Federal court. He is confined to his home until sentencing, where he faces a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Jury: Ezagui is Guilty – Faces 30 Years in Prison

A jury found developer Eliyahu Ezagui guilty on all counts of his indictment in Federal court. He is confined to his home until sentencing, where he faces a maximum of 30 years in prison.



United States Attorney, Eastern District of New York

CROWN HEIGHTS [CHI] — Today, Tuesday afternoon, developer Eliyahu Ezagui was convicted by a jury in Brooklyn federal court; with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, nine counts of bank fraud, and eleven counts of criminal forfeiture.

The bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud are for masterminding a scheme to defraud banks, mortgage lenders, and residents of Crown Heights community of approximately $18 million in connection with the fraudulent mortgaging of Condominium apartment units.

Ezagui remains on home confinement and electronic monitoring. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled. He faces a maximum of 30 years of imprisonment at sentencing.

According to the indictment, filed in March 2009, Ezagui enticed numerous victims to purchase condominiums in Crown Heights through “option agreements.” Option agreements entitled the victims to purchase condominiums at a reduced price prior to construction.

Specifically, the victims paid between approximately $90,000 and $160,000 per unit and received contracts guaranteeing them the deeds for the units once construction was completed. After the properties were built, Ezagui provided the victims with access to the units, and the families moved in, believing they were the lawful owners of their new homes.

However, Ezagui refused to transfer the deeds to the condominiums to the purchasers. Instead, Ezagui secretly transferred the deeds to “straw borrowers,” including himself and his family members. Thereafter, Ezagui submitted fraudulent mortgage applications and obtained mortgages on the units from numerous banks and mortgage lenders.

To conceal the fraud and to prevent the mortgages from being declared delinquent, Ezagui paid the monthly mortgage payments for several years. In approximately 2007, Ezagui stopped paying the mortgages.

As a result, the individual victims who purchased the condominium apartments are now facing foreclosure on their residences, and the banks, mortgage lenders, and individual victims face losses totaling approximately $18 million.

“The defendant engaged in fraud to steal money from innocent homebuyers and financial institutions,” stated United States Attorney Campbell. “We will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute mortgage fraud to protect homebuyers, lenders, and our housing market and to bring the perpetrators of such schemes to justice.”

The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Melissa B. Marrus.

Related Articles:

Developer Eli Ezagui Indicted in $18M Mortgage Fraud

Builder Flees & 40 Hasidic Families Face Eviction in Brooklyn Swindle

Wife of Jailed Developer, Reina Ezagui Asks for Help

Eliyahu Ezagui Trial Starts Today

Ezagui Defence brings up Rebbes Blessing in Trial


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63 Comments

  • Chana

    I don’t know all the facts of what he has done. But it is very sad Yidden put their own brother in Jail.

  • Tzedek tzedek tirdoif

    Justice was served. This is no Rubashkin or Grossman case; this guy is an oisvorf and a gonef who dragged the Rebbe into his web of deceit.

    Maybe he can pass himself off as a Muslim in the can and get a job as an imam’s assistant too. After all, he passed himself off as a Chossid when he needed to and lived a double life in Florida, head uncovered and all.

  • We need Moshaich

    It is really sad we should only hear good news and others should take this as an example,

  • sat thru the whole case

    i sat thru the whole case
    he is NOT guilty of premeditated crimes. the people were willing accomplices in this as well, and did very well for many years! stop believing everything just because u see it written. dont be a sheep! we have enough sheep!

  • someone who knows

    to chana,
    i am sorry to inform you but ydden did not put him in jail, eliyahu put himself in jail. he was told not to come to the states, he was begged to take a plea deal but he was to arrogant to take the advise of some wise people who wanted to help him. unfortunately, his family will now suffer even more

  • a fellow lubawitcher

    people stop writing stupid comments such as “moshiach now”, these things push further and further away moshiach. lets be smart and prevent such things to happen

  • chana

    I am deeply ashamed to live amongst people (and, in fact, I can no longer identify myself with the Crown Heights community) who can do this to another Jew, ESPECIALLY those who know the true circumstances of this case. But G-d knows, and I truly hope He’ll orchestrate ultimate justice. Until then, I hope the people involved — namely the residents of the buildings Eli purchased — understand in their guts, and during the quiet of the night, the magnitude of what they’ve just done to an innocent man. It is beyond shameful; there are simply no words to describe my disgust.

  • getzel

    “the people were willing accomplices in this as well, and did very well for many years!” What do you mean by that stupid statement? How well did they do that they might lose their apartments and all the money they invested into it. They already paid for their apartments, when they purchased them initially, now they stil have the additional 18 million that the banks want on top of their own mortgages. So in essence they are paying for their apartments TWICE.

  • Now Its Good?

    So will this cause all the residents of his building to grt their money back?
    Obviously NOT!
    In conclusion American law is cruel and stupid in many cases.

  • to tzedek tzedek tirdoif......

    to tzedek tzedek tirdoif: WHAT THE HHEECCKK IS UR PROBLEM!!!!! u dont care for a fellow jew. this didnt help u at all but to put a fellow jew in jail. what did that do for you? waht does it make a difference to ur life if hes out of jail? if hes in jail it makes a HUGE difference to me cuz its another jew in jail…. and he wasnt put by goyim…he was put by jeww themselves. e/o who caused this should be embarrassed!!! sickness. HASHEM AD MOSAI… TILL WHEN WILL UR CHILDREN FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Itamar

    Justice is served. He’s a criminal and he’s guilty. It is sad to see a Jew in jail, but you do the crime, you do the time.

    And stop saying he’s innocent. That just insults my intelligence.

  • a ch biz person - from exprience

    what is worse paying twice or putting a Jew in prison… never again – what a joke!

    our own will do us in faster then anyone else

  • a buyer from eli

    itamar,

    how would you react if this was your brother?
    please read what the rebbe says about prison in gengeral and then learn the laws of piduon shevoim…

    not once, does the rebbe speak like you.. on the contrary. show me in any halacha that EVEN IF a jew steals (which i dont think this is case is so simple at all) can you put him in jail

    a moser is a moser is a moser

  • a jew

    so he feels good today?

    one jew killed (BDH)
    one jew to server 30 years (GF)
    one jew in a 4 x 4 cell
    about time to wake up

  • Shomrim Six

    I ******** was one of the Shomrim Six whom only weeks ago sat on trial as a result of a viscous mesira/blood libel done by “other Jews”, known to us as Mossrim Ym”s.
    Oddly enough, some of these same Mossrim were telling you (more like intimadating and threatening) not to go testify in the Ezagui case (which to point out, I know nothing about) because it would be mesira (?).

    Six innocent Jews can go to jail for 15 years on a blood libel, but a criminal who ripped other Jews off can’t go to jail; can’t face justice.

    Where is the papers that say…
    THE VICTIMS WANT TO BE HEARD

    another thing…forgetting for a moment about what I went thorough. How many of you self righteous Jews whom care so much that another Jew is going to jail, how many of you sent money to his defense, how many of you went to support him in court?
    I bet zero.

  • not part of the community

    all of you should be embarrassed! cause someone doesn’t wear a kippa he shouldn’t be sitting in jail. it has nothing to do with anything.
    and i know him personally he’s one of the nicest people i know. this was all just a bad business deal that he tried to make right now you all are burring him.
    these people made there money back and more they were living there for years and collecting rent while he was paying the mortgage.
    i just don’t see how religious people from crown heights can be so bad! especially when he was only trying to help. i really what the rebbe would say to those ” religious people” who testified falsely against him.

  • mordy26

    can somebody, please, explain to me, why was he paying their mortgages, how exactly was he profiting ? thanks

  • Facts vs Fiction; Research vs Rumors

    It is important to point out that the verdict in no way says anything about the case in the Crown Heights media. Eliyahu Ezagui was not found guilty of investor fraud. What he was found guilty of was bank fraud. They said that he took out the mortgages without the intent to pay them back. Of course, that is incorrect. He paid them for many years and had the investment done better, he would have continued to pay these off as well. When the Federal Government is on to someone, they will stop at nothing to get them.

    For those who say that no one ratted on him, please get your facts straight. 4 or 5 individuals from Crown Heights testified against him last week in court. No one forced them to. Ask Mr Lerman. He himself said that he is testifying because he understands this will help his civil case and further the chance of him getting a deed.

    Eliyahu Ezagui is a wonderful person. He did a lot of good for the community and that is where his passion was. He was destroyed by evil profit seekers who would stop at no means to destroy him. He had the opportunity to settle a deal had he ratted on others, but he refused to.

    When writing comments, please be somewhat more sensitive. Not to his family and not to others but to the truth. It is there if you care to see it.

  • awacs

    “get your facts straight no one mussered on him”

    Well, it *could* be argued that the DN article was the source of the criminal prosecution (not bank complaints, nor the foreclosure litigation) and the DN article was the result of (certain) Yidden seeking out the press, and that (certain) Yidden desired criminal action to happen, as leverage in the civil dispute, and knew that that was likely as a result of the article – otherwise, why go to the papers?

    If you accept all of those assumptions, then you have (is there such a thing?) g’ramah l’mesira, at least.

  • green

    this is so so so terrible!!! what can be done??? this is final??? how sad !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • SP

    money lost should be paid back with money or property – nothing is excusable for being a moyser and landing a father and husband in prison for 30 years!!! to those yidden who lost money yet played a part in having him sent to prison – SHAME ON U!!! u are cruel and vindictive!! another “pay back” arrangment should have been made. Nothing is excusable for putting a father and husband away like that!!! shame , shame, shame on u!!

  • dont send a yid to jail

    rabbi osdoba was the one who gave permission to take him to bais din. shame on him! his son lives in one of the apts on lefferts and in fact it was rabbi osdobas check that paid for the condo so he was clearly noigaya bdovor, no matter what a yid does you cannot send him to jail. the munkatcher rebbe has now summoned rabbi osdoba toa bais din to explain his actions.

  • Confused

    From what I read here I believe everyone who lives in Crown Heights is capable of criminal activity and excuses it as an entitlement for being Jewish.

    I think you are all insane.

  • its about time

    wake up fellow yiden,
    what do you think when you say Hashem Echod in Shma
    what do you think when you say harainee every morning

    what do you think when you say borcheinu ovinu k’echod
    its all like the left hand smacking the right hand
    if this was in a body it would be called an autoimmune disease

    we all need a big Refuah.
    we all need the final geulah

    yisroel ST. maybe you should included in your refoainu the other part of ch… not sure which part … but i know its an other.

    Otherwise how do you explain this… fighting against one an other.

  • lo taamod al dam reeicho

    all of you disgusting people .
    6 weeks there was a trial in supreme court that 7 maschchissim ym“s orchastrated with Huebner ym”s a blood libel that was found to be falls accusation in court and
    we did not see you protesting this mosrim ym”s.
    now you wake up ?
    how come this big fat Skoblo still walking the street of crown heights when he was the first moser ?
    shame on all of you
    on you the torah said LO TAAMOD AL DAM REEICHO.
    and yes no jew should go to jail.

  • Proud Misnaged

    If Chassidim are those who defend a gonif who ripped off Yidden and banks alike, then I am a misnaged and a proud one at that. This guy was a scammer, and even if some people did well by him they did so by being hooked, knowingly or unknowingly, into a scam. When he dragged the Rebbe’s brocho into his defense, especially considering how he squandered his brocho and led a double life, we all were dirtied by his chutzpah.

    It is time for us to clean up our act and stop covering for the menuvalim in our midst. That means ganovim, molesters, spousal and child abusers, corrupted shluchim and rabbonim etc etc. They exist and such is the way of the world until Moshiach comes. If we did our homework and handled them properly they would not reflect on the rest of us let alone cause the damage that they cause.

    In fact if we catch them in time and handle it ourselves then we can even avoid the courts in many cases. If this kind of behavior is nipped in the bud fast the perp can even go on to lead an exemplary life with the help of mashpiim, psychologists, the community and just plain Yidden who care.

    Instead we cover for them until we can’t anymore and the law takes over creating an enormous chilul Hashem.

  • Who Seed Watt

    He mortgaged OTHER PEOPLE’S APARTMENTS, which he had previously sold to them, and not delivered a deed. How terrible that in one act, he doubly defrauded the banks and the true owners of the apartments. The Rebbe once warned that one who steals from goyim will come to steal from yiddin too. How sad that many don’t understand the Rebbe’s words. This is the cause. The conviction and jail are only the consequences, R”L.

  • Ad mossai!!!!!!???

    so many tragedies going on these days!!!
    so sad!
    ad mosai??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • PEREK 30 & 32 OF TANYA

    WHEN ONE JUDGES ANOTHER, … HE’S ACTUALLY JUDGING HIMSELF!!!
    -ZOHAR, & SIFREI MUSSAR.

    EXPLANATION:
    BethDin in Heaven may Not judge a human on earth
    (bec one may not judge another w/o walking in their shoes! therefore) the heavenly court has YOU yorself be the judge!
    HOW
    by showing YOU an equivalent case in “another” to follow the same “fare-minded” judgement you past on “another”

    for better or worse R”L

  • Blame yourself

    Ezagui has NO ONE to blame but himself. Everyond gave him an out but he thought he knew better. Anyone who contributes a cent to any appeal is a complete fool. This is his wake-up call. Let him do a real t’shuva and let G-d have rachmonus before his sentencing that he shouldn’t have to sit.

  • to facts vs fiction

    to fact vs fiction you seem to be writing on fiction and not on facts those who testified were suponed and lets see what you would do ifyou lived in one of those condos will you be willing to give it up for his sake if that means not having a place to live for you and your kids? you should get the facts straight. I don’t believe he intended for this to go this far but he was asked plenty of times to settle and give the deeds he refused you do the crime you will do the time.

  • lets see

    If you say that testifying was the right thing to do then please post all the names of the “mosrim” so that i can look the other way when I see 1 of them
    Or are you embarrassed that you testified and put a man in jail… im waiting for the names

  • Those who poke blame

    To all those who poke blame It is very easy to talk when you are not one of the condo owners. As a condo owner this was not a business deal with ezagui it was families trusting him with buying a house for there family. He has plenty chances to work things out and refused over and over again It’s ok for him to screw around with these families and these families are facing eviction, but everyone has rachmanos on him. He is not going to jail because of us or for some say beacuse of these so called mosrim its way more then that don’t judge these families until you are in their shoes

  • Know before you talk

    Most people here obviously don’t know this, but NO JEW put him there. They weren’t even aware what Eli was doing and only found out when they started to get letters from the banks that their apartments were going to foreclosed because they weren’t paying the mortgages (Eli wasn’t paying the mortgages anymore). At that point the General attorney got involved and at that point there was nothing anyone could do. They arrested him when he came to the U.S. when he was told not to and he did not want to make any deal before the court case.

    So this has nothing to do with Jews putting Jews in jail, because Jews did not put him in jail. This case wasn’t people that lived in those apartments VS. Eli. they only went to testify because the were court ordered to and if they didn’t go they would possibly go to jail. and everyone that went did not want to go and when they went they tried to do their best to not make Eli look too bad.

    Lets not forget that if Eli would win there would be a big possibility that most of the families living the those apts. would be thrown out and what would you say then? ?at least Eli the one that did this to himself isn’t in jail”?

    I don;t either think a Jew should go to jail, but there really wasn’t anything anyone could do to stop it except Eli. By making a deal months ago.

    I hope this clears some things up. but I know that some people just don’t have the ability to understand anything that they don’t want to understand, even if its the truth and they are wrong.

  • awacs

    “Why is he allowed house arrest with ankle bracelet and not Rubashkin?”

    Perhaps because Obama didn’t mention him in a campaign speech?

  • Shameful

    to Those Who Poke Blame– you ask we not judge the condo families!? YOU put your CHILDREN front and center into photographs to be splashed all over the New York Daily News!?

    You people would never have been able to afford these apartments without Mr. Ezagui’s help.

    He couldn’t help you anymore, so NOW you cry in retaliation, while using your children’s faces in the process!?

    How can the community not judge YOU!?

  • awacs

    “Why is he allowed house arrest with ankle bracelet and not Rubashkin?”

    Perhaps because Obama didn’t mention him in a campaign speech?

  • Itamar

    To “a buyer from eli”—>

    I work in riker’s island. I’m here right now. I know all about criminals and the criminal justice system. He was found guilty dina malcusa dina. He’s guilty according to jewish law also, unless you don’t follow the gemorra.

    He manipulated and stole, destorying many families in crown heights. He deserves what he gets.

    And to your question, what if he was my brother? My brother is an upstanding citizen, so the question is irrelevent. And if you want to say anything else about my family, I’d love to meet and chat.

  • ITS UP TO US THE WOMAN TO BRING MOSHICAH

    i just read this aritcel and the comments and its just hurts
    the way people write
    mosser or not this guy is a jew!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PERIOD!!!!!!!!
    I DONT UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING ON IN CROWN HEIGHTS
    ITS JUST PLAIN AWFUL
    PEOPLE WE NEED TO WAKE UP
    its just pashut insane this past year was just filled with so much saddnesss
    first there was rubashkin and now this guy
    now that i think about it it makes sense
    i mean think about it look at the way the woman are dressed in crown heights
    i mean since when was a mini skirt a normal thing to see
    no wonder we are getting all these sufferings
    and what happend to the saying
    בזכות נשים צדקניות
    well i dont remember the rest of it but becuase of us the woman we could bring the geulah
    so WAKE UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP LADIES
    THE צניות in crown heights just NEEDS HELP
    WE LADIES ARE THE ONES THAT COULD REALLY CHANGE THE WORLD
    SO WAKE UP

  • Juror #12

    sat thru the whole case wrote:

    “i sat thru the whole case
    he is NOT guilty of premeditated crimes.”

    As did I, and I humbly disagree.

    Facts vs Fiction; Research vs Rumors wrote:

    “They said that he took out the mortgages without the intent to pay them back. Of course, that is incorrect.”

    Not sure who the “they” in question are, but it was not on the Jury Charges for Case No. 09-CR-185 (FB) (S-1), USA vs Eliyahu Ezagui, I still have my copy, it lists 5 counts of bank fraud, where mortgages were fraudulently obtained, and 1 count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud. Eliyahu’s intent to repay the mortgages was not in question, whether he should have been able to obtain them in the first place was.

    Who Seed Watt wrote:

    “The Rebbe once warned that one who steals from goyim will come to steal from yiddin too.”

    If this means what I think it does, I think it describes Eliyahu’s actions very well. He stole from both communities and both are poorer as a result, the banks will likely never see all the funds their investors trusted them with, and the people that bought apartments will have to fight in the courts to stay in their homes.

    lets see wrote:

    “If you say that testifying was the right thing to do then please post all the names of the “mosrim” so that i can look the other way when I see 1 of them
    Or are you embarrassed that you testified and put a man in jail… im waiting for the names”

    They can name themselves if they wish, and while I may not be a “mosrim” but please do look the other way should you see me, I’d prefer not to see the face of one who condones rather than condemns the actions of this man. Give me your address and I’ll send you a photo.

  • someone who there

    those of you who said about the people who massered are wrong they got supeanoed to come in they spoke nothing bad about “mr Eli Ezagaui” They were asked what they thought about him and they all said not one bad thing about him all they said was they wanted the deed and they didn’t care what happened to him.

  • Someone who there

    Try putting the kind of money I put down, and getting ripped off. Then try seeing if you have the same “LOVE” for the person.

  • Milhouse

    Those commenters who’ve suggested that this was some sort of futile mesirah just to get back at him, and it won’t help his victims, are completely wrong. This conviction is very valuable to his victims, because it is strong evidence supporting their case against the banks. A criminal jury has just concluded that the apartments belong to the victims and not to Ezagui, and so he had no right to mortgage them. That means the bank’s mortgages are void, and they can’t kick people out into the street. Of course there’s no guarantee that the civil jury will agree; they might say the criminal jury got it wrong. But they’re not likely to do so. And that means the banks will be likely to settle for a small amount.

  • Inda Know

    Dearest Milhouse:

    You’re wrong. Very wrong. The banks can claim on their mortgages because the owners failed to register their ownership, by deed if they had one, or by filing a “notice of pendency” to provide the banks with sufficient notice that the Ezagui mortgages may be improper. An owner who failed to register his interest (claim of ownership) with the clerk, runs the risk of being a co-victim with the banks, of a fraud. An owner who SHOULD HAVE registered and didn’t, will lose out to the bank who did nothing wrong. Even though both were the victim of a crime.

  • Juror #12

    Milhouse wrote:

    “A criminal jury has just concluded that the apartments belong to the victims and not to Ezagui, and so he had no right to mortgage them.”

    Not quite, we were not asked to make any evaluation with regards to who the apartments belonged to, we were asked whether Eliyahu obtained mortgages fraudulently. Rightful ownership may have been a consideration, but, if so, it was one of many discussed during our deliberations. I should have made it clearer in my earlier post that it was my personal opinion that Eliyahu “stole from both communities”, though I did clearly state the crimes for which we found him guilty.

    It seems that the NY civil courts have already made a number of decisions as to rightful ownership, e.g. http://www.nycourts.gov/rep… Though I should note that we were not aware of the majority of these decisions as they were not entered into the evidence for us to consider.

    “That means the bank’s mortgages are void, and they can’t kick people out into the street.”

    I suspect that as a criminal court found that some mortgages were obtained fraudulently that means that the mortgages will be voided, but I am not a lawyer. We were only asked to consider 5 mortgages directly, hopefully a civil court will conclude that the rest were also obtained by means of fraud.

  • Milhouse

    “Inda know”, how should they have registered their interest, since they had no idea that the mortgages existed? The first notice they had that the properties were mortgaged was when the bank sent them foreclosure notices, and they immediately protested.

    To the person claiming to have been a juror: if they were his apartments, then there was nothing fraudulent about the mortgages. The only fraud was that they weren’t his apartments. The only way the civil jury could still find for the banks would be to disagree with this verdict altogether; it could do so, but isn’t likely to. And the banks know that, so they’re likely to offer a reasonable settlement.

  • Juror #12

    Milhouse wrote:

    To the person claiming to have been a juror: if they were his apartments, then there was nothing fraudulent about the mortgages. The only fraud was that they weren’t his apartments.

    Not true, we found that there were many misstatements on the mortgage documents, detailing type of residence (several mortgages were shown as being of type primary residence), amount of cash from buyer on the HUD1s, address of borrower, etc, etc. Failing to declare a prior claim to the apartment being mortgaged in the application could also be considered a materially false in this context, but we did not have to find it so in order to return a guilty verdict.

    The 5 cases of fraudulently obtaining a mortgage were under:

    Section 1344 of Article 18 of the United States Code, which makes it a federal crime to “knowingly execute or attempt to execute a scheme or artifice… to obtain any of the moneys, funds or credits… owned by, or under the custody or control of, a financial institution by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises.

    at least that’s what the Jury Charges say. Even if Eliyahu had rightfully owned the apartments in question we may well have returned a guilty verdict for a number of the counts, as it was clear that there were several materially misrepresentations in the mortgage applications.

    Further, the Theory of Defense provided in the Jury Charges does not reference rightful ownership:

    Mr. Ezagui contends, among other things, that the government has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he knew the mortgage apllications at issue contained materially false statements. He further contends that the government has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he specifically intended to defraud anyone.

    If you doubt I was a juror on the case I can fax you a letter from the Court’s Case Manager that should hopefully remove any doubts.

  • Juror #12

    Inda Know wrote:

    “An owner who SHOULD HAVE registered and didn’t, will lose out to the bank who did nothing wrong.”

    What makes you think the banks did “nothing wrong”? The scheme that Ezagui used to obtain mortgages may have been complex, but from what was seen in the court, I’m pretty sure if they’d been paying sufficient attention, there’s good reason to believe that they might have detected the fraud much earlier. There’s a difference between “nothing criminal” and “nothing wrong”, and while the banks’s actions may not have fallen into the first category, my non-expert opinion is that they were deep into the second.

    That, through a lack of oversight, the banks (and others) may have contributed to the whole sorry mess, may have been discussed in our deliberations. Ultimately, we found that it did not matter in establishing whether Eliyahu was guilty of the crimes he was charged with. Our focus was on the charges and the evidence before us, not on the wider issues around sub-prime / low doc / no doc mortgages.

  • Inda Know

    To Juror 12:

    You’re right. If the claiming owners can show that the bank’s lack of diligence (or maybe even intentionally “turning a blind eye”) to the defaults in the applications and the mortgages rises to the level of wrongful conduct equivalent to their failure to file, they can succeed in disqualifying the mortgages and the banks’ claims. This is an uphill battle though, as the failure to file is a more clear and open error of omission.

    As to how the claiming owners could have filed before the mortgages were even applied for (asked by Milhouse, above) they had put down money and obtained contracts years before the Ezagui mortgages. When they failed to obtain deeds in a timely manner, they could have started an action years ago for the court to issue them a deed, and registered a “Notice of Pendency” with the county clerk. Their claim of ownership would then have been “known to the world” (including the banks) and could have then been settled by the courts or by arbitration in the Beis Din. No bank in its right mind would have lent money to Ezagui, or anyone else, on the mortgage of a disputed property, until the issue was settled.

    Thank you Juror 12 for your dedicated service and obvious attention to detail shown by your careful analysis and comments shown by the above.

  • Facts vs Fiction; Research vs Rumors

    To juror #12, you said:

    “They said that he took out the mortgages without the intent to pay them back. Of course, that is incorrect.”

    Not sure who the “they” in question are, but it was not on the Jury Charges for Case No. 09-CR-185 (FB) (S-1), USA vs Eliyahu Ezagui, I still have my copy, it lists 5 counts of bank fraud, where mortgages were fraudulently obtained, and 1 count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud. Eliyahu’s intent to repay the mortgages was not in question, whether he should have been able to obtain them in the first place was.

    The conspiracy charge is exactly that. Prosecutor Schaeffer charged that when all the mortgages are looked at, one can see that Ezagui conspired from the very beginning to defraud the banks. According to Schaeffer the only reason he paid the mortgages was because it enabled him to get more mortgages. Without the conspiracy the weight behind the governments case essentially disappears.

    I do appreciate you pointing out that rightful ownership was not the discussion of the case. Somehow, people in the community equate the verdict with the investors disagreements with Ezagui. They are not one and the same.

    Assuming that you are one of the jurors and your opinion is in fact that he defrauded both communities, please explain how you can believe investors that say they didn’t read or understand a very simple one page agreement while at the same time expecting Ezagui to have read through tens of mortgages totaling hundreds and hundreds of pages. Bottom line with these mortgages, many people had incentive to make them work. Aside from Ezagui, they include the mortgage lender and the banks – both of whom stood to make money on these loans. One can only believe Ezagui is responsible for the materially false information in the details of these mortgages if they believe he had no intention to pay them back initially. Without the conspiracy charge it is hard to believe that anyone expects that Ezagui read the whole entire mortgage. Which would leave in my opinion reasonable doubt about his involvement in the materially false statements on these mortgages in question.

  • Dina S

    To “Juror #12”

    “If you doubt I was a juror on the case I can fax you a letter from the Court’s Case Manager that should hopefully remove any doubts.”

    Yes, I highly doubt you were a juror on this case. Since you offered, I am taking you up on your offer. Please fax me the letter, my email is: answerforquestion@gmail.com
    waiting to hear from you.

    Thanking you in advance

  • Juror #12

    To Dina S, please check your inbox.

    To Facts vs Fiction; Research vs Rumors

    The conspiracy charge was:

    “In our about and between 1998 and 2007, both dates being approximate and inclusive, within the Eastern District of New York and elsewhere, the defendant, ELIYAHU EZAGUI, together with others, did knowingly and intentionally conspire to:

    (a) execute a scheme and artifice to obtain money and funds owned by and under the custody and control of financial institutions by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises … and

    (b) devise a scheme and artifice to obtain money and property from financial institutions, mortgage institutions and individuals by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises, and for the purpose of executing such scheme and artifice to transmit and cause to be transmitted, by means of wire communication in interstate commerce, writings, signs, signals, pictures and sounds …”

    I cannot see anything in that, nor in the Judges directions, nor in the Theory of Defense, that told us that we should find Eliyahu not guilty if we believed his intent was to repay the mortgages in question. The conspiracy charge was simply “did he conspire to defraud the banks via the use of materially false misrepresentations?”. We found that he did and all 12 of us said so in court when polled.

    Not declaring that there were prior claims to the properties in question was one materially false statement on the applications, amongst many. While I’ll concede that this particular detail was hard to find amongst in the mortgage documents, there were several other false statements and representations in the mortgage documents that were readily apparent.

    It was clear to us beyond reasonable doubt that Eliyahu knowingly and willingly acted and/or caused others to act to defraud the banks. A deep and thorough understanding of the mortgage application documents was not necessary, nor (as you can see from reading the charges) was it required of us to find that Eliyahu had such knowledge.

    We had to find that he had knowledge sufficient to realize he was defrauding the banks. Given that we heard that people requested deeds to their apartments, and Eliyahu said he was working on providing them, while at the same time using the deeds for purposes of gaining mortgages for those same apartments, it was clear to me that he knew he was supplying documents to the banks to which he knew he had no claim. The Beis Din found the same on at least one occasion as did the Supreme Court of NYS. However, there was so many materially false statements and misrepresentations on the mortgage documents that even if he did have a claim to the deeds, it may well have been that we would have reached the same verdict.

    As I said earlier “Eliyahu’s intent to repay the mortgages was not in question, whether he should have been able to obtain them in the first place was.”, to which I could add nor was the purpose to which he used the funds from the mortgages a consideration in finding Eliyahu guilty, though I (and in all likelihood others on the jury) believed it was not primarily for personal financial gain. However it’s been said that “Hell is paved with good intentions” …

    I knew nothing of the prior Beis Din and Supreme Court of NYS proceedings when I became a juror, indeed I was unaware of the entire situation, and it seems to me (from reading comments on this article and others) that you had already reached your opinion before the case started in the Federal Court. I, along with my fellow jurors reviewed the case on the evidence before us and on that alone, and while you may be right, I have not read anything here or in response to other articles on CHI and elsewhere, that leads me to believe I came to the wrong conclusion. While Eliyahu’s objectives may have been laudable, his actions were not only deplorable they were criminal. In short the ends do not justify the means.

    To Inda Know.

    Thanks. I do not doubt that you are factually correct when you say “When they failed to obtain deeds in a timely manner, they could have started an action years ago for the court to issue them a deed”, though this does strike me as blaming the victims. The victims here trusted that Eliyahu would act honorably, they may not have been aware of the options available to them, and the paperwork they signed stated that the “Beth Din” was the forum to resolve disputes, and as I understand it, this would not have lead to a matter reaching the public record. That the Beth Din on at least one occasion allowed Eliyahu a year to rectify matters in all likelihood acted against the interests of the occupiers.