In the following press release Nassau County (NY) District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that a Brooklyn man has been charged with three felonies in connection with the theft of $2.3 million from a Great Neck real estate company that thought they were providing a real estate loan to a reputable customer.

Mayer Goldberger, 50, of Sunset Park in Brooklyn, has been charged with Grand Larceny in the First Degree, Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, and Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. He was arrested Wednesday morning by DA Investigators. He is scheduled to arraigned Wednesday in First District Court, Hempstead.

Rice said that between May 1, 2008 and July 14, 2008, Mayer Goldberger secured a short-term loan in the amount of $2.3 million from BRT Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust located in Great Neck, New York. The loan was to be secured by a first mortgage on real property owned by Hartford LLC and located in Connecticut, and the personal guarantee of Goldberger.

As part of the criminal scheme, Goldberger caused a title report to be prepared by Speedy Title Services LLC, a company created by Goldberger in June 2008. The report failed to disclose material information, including the existence of a recorded and outstanding 2007 mortgage on the property which was issued by Hartford LLC to New York Community Bank in the amount of $3 million, but did include an apparent bogus 2007 mortgage allegedly issued by Hartford LLC to Hartford & York LLC, another company in which Goldberger was the sole member, in the amount of $2.8 million.

In addition, through Speedy Title Services, Goldberger caused a fraudulent Title Commitment and Policy of Title Insurance purportedly issued by First American Title Insurance Company to be presented to BRT. Not only did First American not issue the Commitment and Policy but the authorized signature on First American documents provided by Speedy was that of an individual who had passed away in February 2008, approximately five months before the closing which occurred on July 11, 2008.

On July 14, 2008 the entire $2.3 million was wired into accounts as directed by Meyer Goldberger, including $2 million into the account of Hartford & York. However, the mortgage issued by Hartford LLC to BRT was never recorded and the loan went into default in January 2009 when the entire $2.3 million principal was due to be repaid.

Authorities are still investigating how Goldberger spent the stolen money.

“Bad mortgages, fraudulent loans, and real estate fraud leave honest businesses holding the bag,” Rice said. “Bogus loans like these make it that much harder for honest homebuyers to do business at a fair price.”

Assistant District Attorney and Chief of the DA’s Public Corruption Bureau, Marshall Trager, is handling the case for the District Attorney’s Office. Goldberger is being represented by Robert McDonald, Esq., of Mineola.

The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.