Mitchell Cohen Sued for Mortgage Fraud
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Former Scarsdale resident Mitchell Cohen is being called the mastermind of an elaborate conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud in New York City that caused at least 17 homebuyers to default on their mortgages and face foreclosure. In a case filed on December13, 2010 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Cohen and 13 defendants, including sellers, lenders and appraisers, are charged with conspiring to commit mortgage fraud. According to Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, “Schemes like the one alleged here helped contribute to the home mortgage crisis. In this particular case, not only did the alleged fraud victimize the home buyers themselves, who were duped into buying homes they couldn't afford and who now face foreclosure and eviction, but also the Government, which insured these bad loans. This Office will use every weapon in its arsenal to fight mortgage fraud, including its powerful civil remedies, and will hold those who participate in and profit from these schemes accountable for their actions."
Cohen allegedly acquired homes for his flip sales through three entities that he controlled: Buy-A-Home LLC, Metropolitan Housing, LLC and Gramercy Funding Group, LTD. He promptly resold or “flipped” the homes without making substantial improvements, to inexperienced, low-income buyers at falsely inflated prices. False appraisals were done to inflate the prices of the homes and Cambridge Home Capital LLC, also a defendant in the suit, underwrote mortgages for the buyers, aware that the buyers could not afford the mortgage payments. Cambridge falsified the buyers credit records by overstating their income, understating their debts, changing their occupation and in one instance paying off the buyer’s personal debts to make them more credit-worthy.
All seventeen loans were insured by HUD, and when the buyers defaulted, HUD assumed the losses. Citibank and Countrywide Bank purchased the mortgages from Cambridge and were also affected by the fraud.
Mitchell Cohen lived in Quaker Ridge from 2000 to 2008. Cohen is said to have appealed to many in the Scarsdale community to invest with him, and they have lost substantial sums as well as the defrauded homebuyers.
SOS Circulates Petition to Oppose the Community Center
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Over the past few weeks, the Village has witnessed the revival of the SCC's long time proposal to build a community center. The scope and cost of this project has changed drastically over the years to today's eye-popping $24 million, that is if you believe that it can be accomplished without any major cost overruns. Importantly, the economic environment has changed significantly during this time. While the SCC recommendation for a public/private joint venture with the SCC raising $8 million in private funds and the Village of Scarsdale floating the additional $16 million in bonds is noble, the fact remains that it would double our Village's debt for an enormous project that is well beyond the group's original stated goal of an indoor pool for Scarsdale. If this group wants to move forward with a project of this size, it should not involve any funding by the Village.
Our group is reaching out to the community to ensure that all of our citizens understand the current proposal, its potential economic impact and the risks it will pose to all Scarsdale Village taxpayers.
Below is a petition that we sent out today. We encourage you to sign it by clicking on the link today.
Scarsdale Cannot Afford to Double its Debt
The Petition
We, the undersigned voters and residents of Scarsdale, call on the Mayor and the Scarsdale Village Board of Trustees to act within its fiduciary responsibility and reject the current and any future SCC proposals to build a $24 million multi-purpose facility, funded with a $16 million Village of Scarsdale General Obligation Bond.
We believe that for the Village to embark on this project would be a fiscally irresponsible risk to all Scarsdale taxpayers. Doubling the Village's debt load for a project that should be funded entirely with private funds puts the entire Scarsdale taxpayer-base at risk for the benefit of a small minority of the Village's residents. It is time to focus on investing in our schools, maintaining our basic services and to stop looking to mortgage the future of our community's financial health for a $24 million multi-purpose luxury facility. It is time to say NO to the SCC.
To sign or see the petition, click here:
Save our Scarsdale (SOS)
Cohen Concedes to Oppenheimer
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Bob Cohen of Scarsdale called a press conference at Republican Headquarters in Mamaroneck on Monday December 6 to announce that he was conceding the race for the 37th district NYS Senate seat to incumbent Suzi Oppenheimer. Only 500 votes apart on a total tally of over 90,000 votes, Cohen came within a half of a percent of winning the election in this heavily Democratic district.
With his wife Barbara at his side, Cohen announced that he had just called Suzi Oppenheimer to congratulate her on her victory in a well-fought campaign. He said, “ I am proud of the race that we ran, though I wish the outcome was different.” He thanked the Westchester Board of Elections for their tireless work in counting 8,000 paper ballots and said that even though the election was extremely close he would not ask for a recount as it would be expensive and taxpayers would have to foot the bill. He thanked his supporters including The New York Times, The New York Post, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, County Executive Rob Astorino, the volunteers and his wife Barbara and their three children.
He urged legislators to work in a bipartisan fashion to solve the state’s problems and said the close election was a vote for change. Cohen added that the election was one of the “most amazing experiences” of his life and that he would not have traded it for anything.
The Cohen Oppenheimer race was hard fought and the stakes were high since it was one of the races that would determine which party would control the State Senate. Cohen ran as an agent of change and reform -- and tied his fate to the hope that the district’s voters would view Oppenheimer’s 26-year tenure in the State Senate as enough. Oppenheimer touted her newly assumed chairmanship of the Senate Education Committee and her role in the state’s win of $700 million in federal Race to the Top money for state education programs.
The Democrats had a 2:1 voter registration advantage over Republicans in the district – but the Oppenheimer camp clearly saw Cohen’s campaign gaining traction and went starkly and fiercely negative, sending out mailers and running television ads that smeared Cohen, falsely labeling him a "slumlord." The Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee cited the Oppenheimer campaign for her false advertising, and some observers believed that this tactic backfired on Oppenheimer and enabled Cohen to surge towards the end of the campaign.
Yet even though Oppenheimer has won, she will give up her Education Committee chair as it appears that the other two close senate races have been won by the GOP, giving them a 32-30 seat advantage.
Trustees Ponder Community Center and Historical Preservation
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Scarsdale Trustees invited residents to give their feedback on the proposal for an indoor pool and community center to be built on the grounds of the outdoor pool on Mamaroneck Avenue. The meeting was held on December 6 in the third floor meeting room of Village Hall which was packed, and some resorted to sitting on the floor or standing in the hallway. Supporters of the SCC had rallied the troops and were handing out SCC swim caps and bumper stickers, while Mayor Stevens passed around delicious homemade chocolate cookies. The cookies, were so good that several people asked for the recipe and Mayor Stevens obliged - find the recipe here .
Before hearing from the public, Mayor Stevens and Trustee Steves offered their thoughts on the project. Stevens briefly recapped the history of the proposal, calling it “long and rocky.” She believes that although the center would be multi-generational and foster community and connections, the Board needs to make sure it is financially viable. She said that the project would be evaluated on its ability to be self-sustaining and its potential to garner sufficient membership and support from the community. Trustee Steves reviewed the proposal, explaining that $8 million would need to be raised in contributions with the Village financing the balance of $16 million. Trustee Jonathan Mark emphasized the significance of the decision when he told the group that the Village contribution of $16 million would double the outstanding debt of the Village of Scarsdale. Once built, if the indoor pool failed to generate sufficient revenue, the Village will be left to fund it.
Then the focus turned to the audience, where, through a show of hands, a majority of the room revealed themselves to be supporters. One by one, people stood up to state their opinions and concerns. Advocates supported the project for the following reasons:
- The Center will bring the community together
- Scarsdale swim teams will no longer have to take long bus rides to different towns to use their pools
- The SCC will be a convenient and useful spot for senior citizens to gather
- The fitness room would be beneficial for everyone, especially high school students as the school’s fitness room needs to be renovated
- The Center’s recreation rooms could be used as party spaces, offering additional revenues to the center.
Although there were only a few opponents in attendance, they were quite vocal and opposed the center for the following reasons:
- The project is not self-sustaining since it will be financed by Village bonds
- There is a high financial risk involved at a time when the Village should not be taking risks
- Funding for many other projects is needed, such as road repair and repaving.
- A new center would require more parking spaces, especially during peak hours
As the meeting progressed, tension built in the room. A number of times, the Trustees had to stop the crowd from interrupting and engaging in shouting contests.
After two hours of debate the meeting was adjourned. The Board of Trustees agreed to hold another open meeting in the beginning of January and consider retaining a financial expert to examine the center’s financial projections and evaluate the viability of the plan.
Earlier in the evening the Trustees moved one step closer to enacting a new Historical Preservation Law in Scarsdale. Former Mayor Noreen Fisher who lead a committee to study the issue attended the December 6th meeting to recommend next steps.
The group seemed to favor the adoption of the NYS model preservation code with a few modifications. It was agreed that Scarsdale would need to formulate its own list of criteria against which buildings, structures, sites and objects would be evaluated and provide definitions of a landmark and an interior landmark.
Age alone would not define a property as historical as other factors such as important events that occurred at the site, or a design by a prominent architect of any era would also be considered. Districts, trees, rocks, monuments and landmarks might also be appropriate for the list.
The Village will need to hire an expert to inventory Village homes, buildings and sites to determine which ones might be given landmark status – pending the consent of the owners. A similar inventory had recently been completed in Greenburgh at a cost of $18,000.
After some discussion, the Trustees agreed to ask Village staff to draft a resolution to issue an RFP for an expert to conduct the Village inventory to determine which properties should be listed. The resolution will be considered at a Board of Trustees meeting in January, 2011.
Teens Food and Where Things Can Go Wrong
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Teenagers often eat with friends and spend more time out of the house than with parents. So it is not always easy for parents to tell if their teen is developing a problem with food. In this interactive presentation, Dr. Evelyn Attia, director of the Center for Eating Disorders at New York Presbyterian Hospital, and Harriet Brown, whose 14-year-old daughter developed anorexia, talk frankly about how parents can recognize the warning signs of food-related issues and what they can do about them.
Their presentation entitled, It’s All in the Relationship, Teens, Food, and Where Things Can Go Wrong, will include readings from Brown’s recently published book, "Brave Girl Eating: A Family’s Struggle with Anorexia," and a discussion moderated by Attia, focusing on successful treatment approaches for disordered eating and eating disorders.
Dr. Attia is a Professor of Psychiatry and Eating Disorders and is a graduate of Scarsdale High School. Author Harriet Brown is a New York Times contributor. Together they will speak on Tuesday, December 7th at 6:30pm at New York Presbyterian Hospital’s Westchester Campus, 21 Bloomingdale Road, White Plains and the public is invited to attend.
