Brooklyn Man Stole Landmarked Fort Green Mansion, Prosecutors Say

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — A man who allegedly stole a landmarked 19th century mansion and tried to steal five other Brooklyn houses has been indicted on charges of grand larceny and fraud, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office announced Tuesday.

Aderibigbe Ogundiran, 36, is accused of stealing the titles of six Brooklyn houses whose owners were either dead or seemed to have abandoned the properties, prosecutors said

It was the theft of 176 Washington Park — a landmarked mansion that rests across the street from Fort Greene Park — that first caught the attention of investigators, according to prosecutors.

The historic mansion had belonged to a deceased man, whose elderly sister still lived in the house, until March 8, 2015, when Ogundiran hired someone to pose as the dead man and transfer the deed to a corporation Ogundiran controlled, prosecutors said.

The elderly sister contacted investigators when she was issued an eviction order after the deed was filed, according to prosecutors.

Investigators discovered Ogundiran had attempted similar identity-theft scams to procure the deeds of five other properties, prosecutors said.

• 123 Albany Avenue: Ogundiran also used an imposter to play the deceased owner of this Crown Heights brownstone and file an ownership transfer with the City Register on March 13, 2015, prosecutors said.
• 42 Albany Avenue: The owner of this Bedford Stuyvesant property died in 2010, five years before his purported signature appeared on Power of Attorney document — filed on Nov. 18, 2016 — transferring the property’s ownership to Ogundiran for $500, prosecutors said. Ogundiran later leased out an apartment in the building and collected rent from its tenant.
• 1024 Hendrix Street: The owner of this East New York property supposedly executed a Power of Attorney that benefitted Ogundiran on Oct. 6, 2015, eight years after the original owner had died, prosecutors said.
• 1424 Fulton Street: This three-story residential building in Bedford Stuyvesant was purchased by three people in 2013. Ogundiran filed a forged Power of Attorney — purportedly from an original owner — that benefitted a corporation he controlled on November 9, 2016, prosecutors said.
• 49 Albany Avenue: The owner of this two-story house in Bedford Stuyvesant died in 2007, nine years before Ogundiran filed a Power of Attorney — forged to include the deceased owner’s signature — on November 9, 2016, prosecutors said.

Ogundiran was indicted in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Tuesday and now faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of 64 charges that include grand larceny, scheme to defraud, forgery, identity theft, and criminal impersonation, prosecutors said.

“Escalating real estate values in Brooklyn unfortunately make frauds like this inviting to thieves,” said Acting District Attorney Eric Gonzalez in a statement. “We vow to continue to vigilantly prosecute scam artists such as this defendant.”

Ogundiran’s bail was set at $200,000 and he is expected to return to court on June 7, said prosecutors.

Image via Google Maps/January 2013