NEWARK, NJ — Four real estate investors have been sentenced in a wide-ranging conspiracy to defraud financial institutions by submitting falsified documents to secure inflated multimillion-dollar loans for commercial and multifamily properties in Michigan and Ohio.
Aron Puretz, 53, and his son Chaim “Eli” Puretz, 29, both of New Jersey, were sentenced for conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution.
Aron Puretz received 60 months in prison and was ordered to pay $22,235,457 in restitution. Eli Puretz was sentenced to 24 months in prison and ordered to pay $20,315,457 in restitution.
According to court documents, the Puretzes orchestrated a scheme involving the Troy Technology Park property in Troy, Michigan. In September 2020, they purchased the property for approximately $42 million, then flipped it to a co-conspirator for an artificially inflated price of around $70 million.
Using falsified documents reflecting the inflated price, the conspirators obtained a $45 million loan. A $30 million short-term loan was used to make it appear the buyer had sufficient funds, with a title company in Lakewood executing two closings—one at the true price and one at the fraudulent figure submitted to the lender.
Also sentenced were Moshe “Mark” Silber, 34, and Fredrick Schulman, 72, both of New York, for their roles in a similar fraud involving the Williamsburg of Cincinnati apartment complex.
They were managing members of Rhodium Capital Advisors, which acquired the complex for $70 million in March 2019.
The pair used a stolen identity and a falsified purchase-and-sale contract for over $95 million to obtain a loan exceeding $74 million from a lender and Fannie Mae.
Silber was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Schulman received 12 months and one day in prison, followed by nine months of home confinement.
Restitution amounts for Silber and Schulman will be determined in a future court hearing.
