New York Criminal Lawyer Blog
The plaintiff in the case is Joachim Harris. The defendants in the case are Chandra M. Young, et al. The case is being heard in the New York State Supreme Court. The Honorable Melvin S. Barasch is the justice hearing the case.
Case Facts and Background
The action in this case comes from the sale of a real property that was owned by the plaintiff. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the property is located at 176 Malta Street in the city of Brooklyn. The plaintiff sold the property to defendant Michael Greene on the 24th of August, 2001. The price was $255,000. The plaintiff states that he was defrauded by the plaintiffs as they withheld all but $180,000 from the sale of the home.
The facts in this case are in dispute. However, it seems that the plaintiff was approached by the defendant Earl Rusnak from Waverley Realty. Earl Rusnak told the plaintiff that he had a buyer for his home. Rusnak told the plaintiff that he should use defendant Chandra M. Young as his representative in the sale of the home. The plaintiff states that Young was associated with the defendant Courtney A.B. Hamilton, Esq. Financial, who acted as the mortgage broker and obtained a mortgage for Greene in the amount of $230,000 from Alliance Funding Company.
The plaintiff further states, the defendant Rusnak/Waverly provided an unsigned contract to Financial that indicated the selling price of the home as $180,000. A second signed contract showed the selling price of the home to be $255,000. The plaintiff states that his signature was forged on this document (white collar crime). The plaintiff states that the defendants hired Charles Liotta to represent them in this transaction and Liotta ordered a title insurance policy from All State on behalf of Greene.
The plaintiff arrived at Liotta’s office for the closing. Defendants Donna Schwartz, who represented the title company and Howard Sherman, the attorney for Alliance, were present at the closing. Rose Marie Cantanno acted as the attorney for Greene, even though she was there for another closing. An NYC Criminal Lawyer said Sherman had refused to continue with the closing unless Green had legal representation. During the closing Liotta remained in another room.
The plaintiff states that copies of forged checks were presented to him. One check was in the amount of $40,500 and was drawn from Greene’s account and made payable to the plaintiff. The second check was in the amount of $1,903.66 and was payable to Greene from the account of the plaintiff. Sherman wrote a number of checks for disbursement and was in a hurry to leave. He wrote a check for the amount of $211,877.66 for the remaining proceeds. This check was made payable to defendant Young. Young told the plaintiff that she would give him a check in a week. The plaintiff was upset that he did not receive any of the proceeds from the sale and he called the police.
The plaintiff is seeking to recover the rest of the funds from the sale of the home.
Case Decision
After reviewing all of the facts of the case the plaintiff has not shown that the acts committed by the defendant were intentional and for this reason punitive damages will not be awarded in the matter. The plaintiff will receive the rest of the funds from the sale of the home.
If you would like a free consultation to discuss a legal matter whether it is for a white collar crime, sex crimes or drug possession, contact the law offices of Stephen Bilkis & Associates. Our offices are located conveniently throughout New York City. You may call us at any time to set up an appointment to come in and discuss your case.