Flashy NYC real estate agent, 3 others faked docs, signatures to take over houses under owners’ noses: prosecutors
Four people — including a flashy real estate agent with a penchant for leopard-print boots — allegedly stole three pricey homes in Queens through a deed fraud scheme, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Real estate agent Autumn Valeri, 41, of Commack, New York — known for her colorful Instagram presence — and her accomplices forged signatures and filed fake documents with the City Register’s office two years ago to take over the homes worth more than $3 million, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement.
Valeri and the others — Carl Avinger, 42, and Lawrence T. Ray, 38, of Queens; and Torey Guice of Roselle, New Jersey — turned themselves in on Tuesday after a grand jury handed up a 47-count indictment detailing the wild crimes, which included charges of grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, conspiracy, identify theft, falsifying business records and other offenses, the DA’s office said.
“This is a case where the defendants acted in concert to forge documents, filed false instruments and stole homes from vulnerable victims in Queens County,” Assistant District Attorney Rachel Stein said in court Tuesday.
They each pleaded not guilty at their arraignments in Queens County Supreme Court.
Authorities say their scheme began April 10, 2023, when Avinger and Valeri filed a fake document with the city’s finance department that claimed a 76-year-old woman who owned a house on 208th Street in Queens Village was transferring the deed to a company Ray owned.
The conspirators also forged the signature of the woman’s dead sister — who once co-owned the house — and a notary, prosecutors claimed.
A few weeks later, Avinger and Valeri allegedly did the same thing to a mother and daughter who owned a house on 61 Road in Kew Garden Hills — then faked more documents, including a marriage certificate and a driver’s license, so they could sell it to a third party in May 2023 for $600,000.
They allegedly wired about $442,000 to Ray’s bank account after the sale, which has since been the subject of a civil lawsuit that’s now on hold because of the investigation.
On May 4, the defendants tried to snag another Jamaica Estates home — this one owned by an 82-year-old woman — through the same underhanded process, prosecutors said.
Supreme Court Justice Leigh Cheng cut the defendants loose on supervised release after their hearings — but required an electronic monitor for Avinger, who has a litany of prior felony and misdemeanor convictions.
The DA’s office asked to hold him on $1.5 million bail, citing that history and an open Nassau County warrant, Avinger’s slew of aliases and fake names and the fact that authorities had revoked his parole four times.
But despite the “serious charges” and “serious criminal history,” Cheng decided to grant supervised release.
An attorney for Valeri — whose Instagram profile is loaded with attention-seizing selfies and motivational mottos — said she lives with her sick mom and 6-month-old child, whom she had with Avinger.
Cheng decided to limit Valeri’s travel to Long Island and the five boroughs before releasing her.
“Property ownership is a fundamental right and my office works to protect that right in this borough. As alleged, the defendants acted in concert to target properties for theft, forge documents, file false instruments and ultimately steal homes from the rightful owners,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement.
Each defendant could serve anywhere between five and 25 years in prison if convicted.
Their next court date is April 29.
