By Angela Marshall
The 52-year-old Rockville Centre resident was arrested last week and charged with interstate travel for the purposes of having sex with a minor.
Gold is vice president and treasurer for the Fifth Avenue real estate firm Loeb Partners Realty.
A five-page complaint filed in New Jersey federal court outlines a six-month Internet dialog between Gold and what he thought was a 14-year-old girl. She was really an undercover FBI agent.
He met her in an America Online chatroom called I Love Older Men on Jan. 30. Two days later, according to the complaint, he wrote that he wanted to have sex with her.
They planned a rendezvous in April and another in May, but Gold kept canceling, documents show. They set another date for July 10 and Gold told her he had reserved a New Jersey hotel room for their meeting.
When Gold showed up at the undisclosed hotel at about 11 a.m. on July 10, he was arrested. According to the complaint, Gold admitted to authorities that he had planned to have sex with a 14-year-old girl that he had been communicating with on the Internet.
Out on $250,000 bail, Gold is no longer allowed to use the Internet at work or at home.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk ordered Gold to be confined to his home except when going to work, meeting with his attorney or attending religious services. He is not allowed contact with minors, except relatives, and he had to relinquish his passport.
He could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Lance Lazzaro, Gold's attorney, declined to comment. A message left on Gold's answering machine was not returned.
Loeb Partners Realty is one of the oldest real estate firms in Manhattan and has handled over $3 billion dollars in investment real estate in the past 35 years. Bernard Falk, senior vice president of Loeb, said Gold has been suspended.
Mr. Gold's issue is personal and does not relate to Loeb Partners Realty LLC or its business. We will continue to be fully cooperative with the authorities, Falk said.
According to Loeb's Web site, Gold has over 20 years experience in accounting and financial administration in the real estate and financial services industries. He has a master's degree in accounting and a bachelor's in economics from Long Island University.
