A Greenwich, Conn., real estate developer already under indictment for alleged multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud pleaded not guilty last week to embezzling nearly $4 million from his Manhattan co-op, media reports said.
Andrew M. Kissel was accused of embezzling the money from the reserve fund of his Manhattan co-op apartment building while serving as treasurer of the board, the New York Times reported. The theft was discovered when the board’s finance committee began investigating overcharges for renovations, prosecutors told the Times.
Kissel, 45, paid back nearly $4 million and about $700,000 in interest and other fees in a civil settlement with the co-op board in October 2003, the Times reported. Then the Manhattan district attorney began a criminal investigation, reports said.
Kissel was indicted in July by federal prosecutors, charged with bank fraud, saying he hid old mortgages to get new loans from banks, the Connecticut Journal News reported. The federal complaint involves tens of millions of dollars, reports said.
Kissel appeared at an arraignment in court last week before Justice Brenda Soloff in State Supreme Court in Manhattan in the alleged embezzlement matter, the Times said. Kissel is currently on house arrest at his home in Greenwich on the federal complaint, the Times reported.
Kissel also faces three civil suits, and his wife has sued him for divorce, though they are still living together, the Times reported.
***
Send tips or a Letter to the Editor to janis@inman.com or call (510) 658-9252, ext. 140.
