Man sentenced for posing as widow's son and stealing, selling her Queens home: DA
QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) --- A man is heading to prison for pretending to be a widow's son before stealing and selling her Queens home, authorities said Wednesday.
Christopher Williams, 43, a Brooklyn resident, was sentenced to two to four years in prison in a Queens court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to identity theft and offering a false instrument for filing in the summer, prosecutors said.
In 2021, Williams used fake birth and death certificates claiming Barbara Matthews was his mother and filed fake documents claiming to be the sole owner of the Jamaica home, authorities said.
Matthews, who inherited the house after her father passed away in 2011, then learned the deed, mortgage and other paperwork had been filed with the New York City Department of Finance, prosecutors said. The home on Dunlop Avenue was empty for several years while Matthews planned to renovate it.
Williams sold the property for $270,000 and made $214,535.64 after closing costs. Williams then cashed the check at a Bronx check cashing place and got $209,665.69 in cash, authorities said.
The home has been restored in Matthews' name, officials said.
“We will not allow criminals to scheme and scam their way into other people’s properties and we will use every tool available to ensure that victims are made whole. In communities targeted
by deed fraudsters, many people do not have the means to hire an attorney to file a civil suit and litigate against deep-pocketed mortgage companies, banks and title insurers. Our use of this new tactic allows us to provide victims with one-stop justice," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.