Three busted for pocketing $874,000 in crooked Coney Island cash as prosecutors charge bribes were the real deal-closer at Mitchell-Lama apartments – By Mikey Light and Larry McShane (New York Daily News) / May 21 2019
A trio of crooked Coney Island housing officials collected $874,000 in cash bribes to steer deep-pocketed applicants into coveted Mitchell-Lama apartments — and stiff lower-income New Yorkers, authorities charged Tuesday.
Defendants Anna Treybich, Irina Zeltser and Karina Andriyan used the dirty money collected from their high-ranking positions at the Luna Park Housing Corp. to purchase pricey Florida real estate along with a high-end collection of fur coats, designer hand bags and jewelry. The three were charged in a massive 78-count indictment with conspiracy, grand larceny, bribe-receiving and other crimes dating to 2013.
“This case exposed a pervasive pattern of corruption and bribery in deciding who received an affordable apartment,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “And this case is also about working-class families being deprived of the affordable housing that they’ve been waiting for.”
Under the lucrative and sophisticated scam, the payoffs were made to insure that doctored paperwork would be filed for applicants permitted to leapfrog over hundreds of moderate- and middle-income families on the waitlist for a spot in the 1,573 city-supervised Brooklyn co-ops.
The defendants “used these apartments essentially as their own piggy banks,” said city Department of Investigation Commissioner Margaret Garnett.
Treybich, 71, and Zeltser, 66, were both members of the corporation’s Board of Directors, while Andriyan, 38, worked as the office manager. The youngest suspect was responsible for maintaining the wait list of applicants and processing applications for the affordable housing complex, officials said.
All three declined comment after they were arraigned and released on $50,000 bail in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
According to authorities, 18 apartments were involved in the scam where cash was more important than a set of keys to get through the front door. The total values of those residences: $5 million, or about $275,000 apiece.
Anna Treybirch, 71, and Irina Zeltzer, 66, were both members of the corporation’s Board of Directors, while co-defendant Karina Andriyan, 38, worked as the officer manager. (Mikey Light/New York Daily News)
The scheme was no secret to the residents of Luna Park.
“Everybody knew what’s going on. It’s been going on for years,” said one woman, who has lived in the complex since 1999. “Everything is under the table. They took down these three people but there’s still more left. There’s so many people involved.”
She said residents knew the prices well. “It’s like, $100,000 for a three bedroom, 50-and-change for a 2 bedroom, and I think it’s between 40 and 50 for a one bedroom.”
People who paid the bribes would often rent them out illegally, she said.
“It’s unfair that people are buying apartments like this. The people who do buy apartments should be kicked out because they illegally bought their apartments.”
Mikhail Diner, 72, another longtime resident, said he tried to organize his neighbors and bring up the bribery scheme at a community meeting last week — then his car tires were slashed.
“I just leased this car a few months ago,” he said. “They made big holes in all four of my tires.”
Gonzalez acknowledged the scam was likely more widespread than detailed in the charges.
“We would have to be naive to believe that these are the only apartments in Luna Park that were awarded by bribery,” he said, alleging the corrupt system was an “open secret” among local residents.
Assistant District Attorney Vivian Joo said prosecutors could produce “voluminous documents showing forgeries” related to the charges.
There were typically three ways to land one of the apartments sold for prices significantly below market value: Residents could apply to move from one apartment to another; non-residents could apply for one of the available apartments; or residents who lived with an owner could apply for successor ownership rights.
The internal and external lists were supposed to be kept chronologically in the order they were submitted.
“At Luna Park, there was a fourth option to secure an apartment … bribing those that controlled the application process,” charged Gonzalez as authorities released details of two incidents.
Brooklyn DA speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, May 21, 2019, regarding the three employees at Luna Park Housing Corp. accused of taking $874,000 in bribes to rig applications for co-op apartments in Coney Island. (Mikey Light/New York Daily News)
In a 2013 case, a woman surrendered a total of $93,000 cash in regular monthly payments to secure a three-bedroom apartment as a successor tenant after providing forged documents indicating she was the daughter of the elderly resident. Two years later, another co-op purchaser paid $26,000 in illegal money after Treybich altered a birth certificate, a marriage certificate and a passport, officials charged.
“Their alleged greed cheated people who were entitled to apartments that instead went to those willing to pay bribes,” said Gonzalez.
Mitchell-Lama Housing was launched in 1955 to provide affordable rental and cooperative housing to moderate- and middle-income families. It was sponsored by New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell and Assemblyman Alfred Lama.
Authorities said the city Housing Preservation and Development Department was deceived by the scam into signing off on the deals secured by bribes.
“We will continue to work closely with the DOI on their ongoing investigation, and have already instituted several changes to strengthen our processes to ensure there is fair access to this vital source of affordable housing,” said an HPD statement.
