Landlord Stole Upper West Side Buildings Through Fraud, Prosecutors Say

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — An Upper West Side landlord is facing years in state prison after being convicted of stealing four Upper West Side buildings and one Hamilton Heights building through fraudulent deed transfers, the Manhattan district attorney's office announced.

John Kojo Zi, 55, was sentenced Wednesday to four to 12 years in state prison, prosecutors said. In July, Kojo Zi was convicted on charges such as grand larceny in the first and second degrees, forgery in the second degree, and offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree.

"The defendant executed an elaborate scam using forged deed transfers to steal five buildings from Manhattan property owners," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr said in a statement. "John Kojo Zi even had the audacity to attempt to collect rent from the tenants and threatened them with eviction if payments were withheld."

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Starting in 2013, Kojo Zi began to steal building deeds by filing fraudulent paperwork with the city, prosecutors said. The convicted scam artist would seize the buildings by forging signatures on deed transfers and completely fabricating records to further support his claim on the buildings. Kojo Zi's phony paperwork gave his own company — Kojo Global Real Estate Development — legal ownership of the buildings.

Through his schemes Kojo Zi was able to assume ownership of a building on West 145th Street, three adjacent townhouses on West 84th Street and another building on West 73rd Streetm prosecutors said.

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