DC attorney general uses RICO Act to charge landlord
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said Thursday that his office is charging a landlord with the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act for running a “slumlord empire.”
Schwalb alleged that Sam Razjooyan ran a “Ponzi-like” scheme by submitting false loan documents to trick lenders into granting him large loans to purchase rent-controlled properties under the guise of profitable redevelopment and defrauded the district’s housing subsidies programs by more than $16 million.
“We have uncovered evidence of a sprawling illegal enterprise,” Schwalb said at a press conference Thursday. “Today, we have filed a lawsuit to shut down the Razjooyan slumlord empire. The suit we filed this morning is a first-of-its-kind civil lawsuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as the RICO Act.”
Schwalb said the landlord is also being charged under two local laws, the False Claims Act and the Consumer Protection Procedures Act.
Schwalb said his office has previously sued Razjooyan and his family’s real estate business for numerous housing code violations in their Ward 7 properties and for defrauding the district’s rehousing program. He added that the Razjooyans have racked up 4,000 housing code violations across their properties.
Instead of going after Razjooyan’s individual properties, Schwalb said his office is going after the “web of fraud and deception that is core to their business model.”
Schwalb said Razjooyan has acquired over 70 apartment buildings, primarily located in Ward 7, in the last decade.
Tenants in the landlord’s buildings allegedly dealt with no heat during the winter months, fires due to faulty wiring, and constant foul odors.
Liz Geddes, a former federal prosecutor who previously worked for the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York, told the Washington Examiner that while RICO charges are commonly used in gang and mob cases, they are not limited to those organizations.
“It’s not a one-off person who’s carrying out a string of crimes independent of others, but where someone is able to commit the crimes because they have this group,” Geddes said.
Geddes, a prosecutor who worked on the RICO case against disgraced R&B musician R. Kelly, noted that recent RICO charges against Sean “Diddy” Combs have created confusion for the public regarding how racketeering conspiracy works.
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Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said Thursday that his office is charging a landlord with the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act for running a “slumlord empire.”
Schwalb alleged that Sam Razjooyan ran a “Ponzi-like” scheme by submitting false loan documents to trick lenders into granting him large loans to purchase rent-controlled properties under the guise of profitable redevelopment and defrauded the district’s housing subsidies programs by more than $16 million.
“We have uncovered evidence of a sprawling illegal enterprise,” Schwalb said at a press conference Thursday. “Today, we have filed a lawsuit to shut down the Razjooyan slumlord empire. The suit we filed this morning is a first-of-its-kind civil lawsuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as the RICO Act.”
Schwalb said the landlord is also being charged under two local laws, the False Claims Act and the Consumer Protection Procedures Act.
Schwalb said his office has previously sued Razjooyan and his family’s real estate business for numerous housing code violations in their Ward 7 properties and for defrauding the district’s rehousing program. He added that the Razjooyans have racked up 4,000 housing code violations across their properties.
Instead of going after Razjooyan’s individual properties, Schwalb said his office is going after the “web of fraud and deception that is core to their business model.”
Schwalb said Razjooyan has acquired over 70 apartment buildings, primarily located in Ward 7, in the last decade.
Tenants in the landlord’s buildings allegedly dealt with no heat during the winter months, fires due to faulty wiring, and constant foul odors.
Liz Geddes, a former federal prosecutor who previously worked for the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York, told the Washington Examiner that while RICO charges are commonly used in gang and mob cases, they are not limited to those organizations.
“It’s not a one-off person who’s carrying out a string of crimes independent of others, but where someone is able to commit the crimes because they have this group,” Geddes said.
Geddes, a prosecutor who worked on the RICO case against disgraced R&B musician R. Kelly, noted that recent RICO charges against Sean “Diddy” Combs have created confusion for the public regarding how racketeering conspiracy works.
ARIZONA SHERIFF DENIES REPORT HE BLOCKED KEY NANCY GUTHRIE EVIDENCE FROM FBI
According to …
DC attorney general uses RICO Act to charge landlord
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said Thursday that his office is charging a landlord with the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act for running a “slumlord empire.”
Schwalb alleged that Sam Razjooyan ran a “Ponzi-like” scheme by submitting false loan documents to trick lenders into granting him large loans to purchase rent-controlled properties under the guise of profitable redevelopment and defrauded the district’s housing subsidies programs by more than $16 million.
“We have uncovered evidence of a sprawling illegal enterprise,” Schwalb said at a press conference Thursday. “Today, we have filed a lawsuit to shut down the Razjooyan slumlord empire. The suit we filed this morning is a first-of-its-kind civil lawsuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as the RICO Act.”
Schwalb said the landlord is also being charged under two local laws, the False Claims Act and the Consumer Protection Procedures Act.
Schwalb said his office has previously sued Razjooyan and his family’s real estate business for numerous housing code violations in their Ward 7 properties and for defrauding the district’s rehousing program. He added that the Razjooyans have racked up 4,000 housing code violations across their properties.
Instead of going after Razjooyan’s individual properties, Schwalb said his office is going after the “web of fraud and deception that is core to their business model.”
Schwalb said Razjooyan has acquired over 70 apartment buildings, primarily located in Ward 7, in the last decade.
Tenants in the landlord’s buildings allegedly dealt with no heat during the winter months, fires due to faulty wiring, and constant foul odors.
Liz Geddes, a former federal prosecutor who previously worked for the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York, told the Washington Examiner that while RICO charges are commonly used in gang and mob cases, they are not limited to those organizations.
“It’s not a one-off person who’s carrying out a string of crimes independent of others, but where someone is able to commit the crimes because they have this group,” Geddes said.
Geddes, a prosecutor who worked on the RICO case against disgraced R&B musician R. Kelly, noted that recent RICO charges against Sean “Diddy” Combs have created confusion for the public regarding how racketeering conspiracy works.
ARIZONA SHERIFF DENIES REPORT HE BLOCKED KEY NANCY GUTHRIE EVIDENCE FROM FBI
According to …
