Brooklyn, New York.The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said Thursday that a disbarred Brooklyn lawyer had been found guilty of stealing the titles to 11 residential homes as part of a ten-year real estate fraud operation that targeted minority homeowners who were facing foreclosure.
Thirteen counts of third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, three charges of first-degree scheme to deceive, and one act of third-degree grand larceny were all convicted against Sanford Solny, 68, of Midwood. The convictions come after a bench trial before Justice Danny Chun of the Brooklyn Supreme Court. Sentencing for Solny is scheduled for September 17 and he now faces obligatory prison time.
Prosecutors claim that between 2012 and 2022, Solny pretended to be a financial expert who helped homeowners with foreclosure. He pretended to be helping lenders with short sales, but in reality, he was using deceptive tactics to get property owners to sign their deeds to companies under his control.
On related counts, the court also found 11 of Solny’s businesses guilty, one for each property. counts pertaining to one more property and several other counts involving the 11 properties were dropped against Solny.
Victims lost their houses, money, and equity.
The majority of the victims, who included a home health aide, a cab driver, and a nurse, were in foreclosure and lacked basic financial and legal knowledge. According to the prosecution, they were tricked into thinking Solny was saving their houses, but in reality, he took possession of them and, in certain situations, started collecting rent from the current occupants.
Several Brooklyn areas, including Bedford-Stuyvesant, East Flatbush, Canarsie, East New York, and Ocean Hill, were home to the stolen properties.
In 2012, Solny’s law license was suspended, and in 2023, he was officially disbarred. On the top accusation, he faces a maximum sentence of seven years in jail as a predicate criminal.
Since 2017, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office has filed 30 indictments against 42 individuals in deed theft cases involving more than 70 properties, according to the office. Convictions have been obtained in all but five of those cases.
