By Jason Scheer
On Tuesday, Oct. 4, Sam Hilany, also known as Nahum Hilany, 35, was sentenced to two to six years in prison for first-degree attempted grand larceny and first-degree scheme to defraud. According to Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon, "Hilany was the principal architect behind a large identity-theft and mortgage-fraud scheme that was brought to light after an investigation by our Criminal Frauds Bureau. He stole $3,136,800 in a scheme that included real estate investors, an attorney, a title closer and an appraiser."
Hilany, whose last known address was 1161 Sunapee Road in West Hempstead, fled the country in July 2004, when he first learned of the investigation into his activities, and was on the lam for several months.
In a joint effort involving the district attorney, the Federal Homeland Security Office and other agencies, officials were notified that Hilany was aboard an Oct. 19, 2004, flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Mexico City. At long last, authorities thought they had their man.
The intention was to have Mexican authorities hold Hilany and turn him over to the custody of U.S. officials. But Hilany was mistakenly put on a plane back to Germany and, because of jurisdictional restrictions, it appeared that he had dodged American law enforcement yet again.
Determined to finally capture Hilany and bring him to justice, Dillon said his office and the U.S. Fugitive Task Force worked through the night to coordinate a second capture effort. Finally, after getting off a plane in Frankfurt on Oct. 20, Hilany was taken into custody by the German border police. "Under tremendous time constraints, our office and the Fugitive Task Force put together the necessary paperwork in order for German authorities to take Hilany into custody," Dillon said.
On Dec. 29, Hilany waived extradition and was cleared for deportation. He was brought back to Nassau County to face the charges on Jan. 28, 2005.
In addition to his guilty plea, he has waived his right to appeal and is required to make full restitution in the amount of $3,136,800. He had faced up to 25 years in prison.
Hilany was named, along with seven others, as part of a scheme that allegedly defrauded banks of more than $3.1 million. A real estate investor who previously worked out of an office in Malverne, he allegedly purchased properties and then sold them to unknowing victims of identity theft for inflated prices. He was able to benefit from this by pocketing the mortgage money put up by banks, Dillon said.
One incident involved a property in Brooklyn. According to Assistant District Attorney William Wallace, Hilany purchased a fire-ravaged property on New Lots Avenue in the East New York section of Brooklyn for $110,000. A month later, after putting new siding on the building, he allegedly had a cohort appraise the property at more than three times the price. Using the appraisal, he was able to acquire a $360,000 mortgage on the burned-out shell of a building.
Wallace said that Hilany employed the use of "straw buyers," who, under the guise of stolen identities, would pose as interested buyers at bank closings.
The Nassau County Criminal Frauds Bureau has identified nine separate properties in Brooklyn, Staten Island and Queens that were utilized in the scheme. Four people - two men and two women, all from the boroughs - had their identities stolen. They didn't know they were associated with the properties until they were notified by way of foreclosure notices from banks.
Though the other participants in the scheme did make money, their proceeds paled in comparison to Hilany's, Dillon said. "Hilany was both the purchaser and seller of most of the properties in the scheme, and he was the principal beneficiary of the proceeds from these transactions," Dillon said. "The companies in whose names the properties were bought and sold were in fact corporate names used by Hilany. It was Hilany who found the properties, did the contracts, arranged for the falsified appraisals and set up the closing dates."
According to Wallace, Hilany, had used the scheme to fund private accounts at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, as well as accounts in Israel and Thailand.
Comments about this story? JScheer@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 234.
