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A pair of upscale Queens homes totaling more than $3 million and and swiped from their elderly owners have been rightfully returned, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Four “fraudster” real-estate agents — including one with a penchant for trashy leopard-print boots — falsified records and forged signatures to illegally take over the deeds of the homes in Kew Gardens Hills and Queens Village and resell them for a hefty sum, a heartless scheme that got the crooks convicted.
“We will not stand by and let property owners lose their homes to fraudsters,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, whose office prosecuted the crimes, in a statement.
“Prosecuting those who steal people’s homes is only part of our work — we are just as committed to returning those homes to their rightful owners.”
Prosecutors said three of the schemers — Autumn Valeri, Lawrence Ray and Torey Guice — pleaded guilty to grand larceny, fraud or related charges last year after agreeing to have their dirty deeds voided.
The trio dodged jail time and were instead placed on probation as part of the plea deal, with Ray also forfeiting nearly $404,000.
One of their victims, Gloria Kubick, told The Post in November that she was unhappy that three of the scammers got off without jail time — and heartbroken that some of her family’s prized possessions were trashed after they were cheated out their home.
The trashed items included her late dad’s “Welcome Home Johnny” sign from when he returned from World War II and other mementos from her parents.
“It’s all just thrown in the garbage,” Kubick said. “It’s like their lives meant nothing.”
The fourth crook, identified only as John Doe because prosecutors said he “used multiple aliases and whose pedigree information is unverified,” was hit with a prison sentence of 4.5 to nine years.
In earlier court proceedings he was identified as Carl Avinger.
Prosecutors said Valeri, a flashy 42-year-old boot-loving scammer, and the other property thieves faked official documents and forged signatures to steal two homes valued at a total of more than $3 million, with one belonging to a 76-year-old woman and the other to a 79-year-old woman.
All four criminals were arraigned on a 47-count indictment in March before pleading guilty.
The DA’s office said the crooks illegally took over a third property, but a judge was able to sign an order voiding that illicit sale because it had not yet been transferred to a new owner.
For the other two sales, the DA’s Housing and Worker Protection Bureau, formed in 2020, had to go to court to have the deeds that had already been transferred voided.
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