A Nigerian 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.
According to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, 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.
It was the theft of 176 Washington Park, a landmarked mansion that rests across the street from Fort Greene Park that first drew the attention of investigators.
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.
Patch.com reports that the elderly sister contacted investigators when she was issued an eviction order after the deed was filed, according to prosecutors.
Investigators also discovered that Ogundiran had attempted similar identity-theft scams to procure the deeds of five other properties with the following addresses: 123 Albany Avenue, 42 Albany Avenue, 1024 Hendrix Street, 1424 Fulton Street and 49 Albany Avenue.
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.
