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Where Financial Fraudsters Have Lived in New York City

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Lots of financial world power players live in New York City?including many who've gone over to the dark side and been charged with or convicted of fraud and scams. Often, these fraudsters' real estate holdings come to market to pay off their debts, sometimes selling at auction or vastly reduced prices. Here, we've mapped out some of the most famous financial fraudster abodes of the past few years. Did we miss one? Let us know.


· Scandalous Real Estate archive [Curbed]

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Hassan Nemazee's Kids' Place

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Hassan Nemazee didn't own an apartment just for himself. He also had apartments at 99-101 Warren Street for the kids. One of those condos, #5H, sold to a non-scandalous buyer for $3.1 million in 2010.

Mark Madoff's Soho Loft

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Bernie Madoff's son Mark Madoff once owned an apartment in the New Museum Building, purchased for $6.075 million in 2005. After Mark Madoff's death, his wife listed the place for rent at $32,500/month and then again later for $35,000/month.

Marco Stoffel's House

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This townhouse once belonged to embezzler/fraudster/philanthropist Marco Stoffel, though it was sold by the sheriff of the city of New York after a court decision against Stoffel in 2009. It's possible the current owner is the much less sketchy J. Christopher Burch.

Jon Asgeir Johannesson's Place

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Icelandic financier/alleged scamster Jon Asgeir Johannesson was the subject of a lawsuit at 50 Gramercy Park North, where a tenant accused him and his wife of cheaping out on their Ikea kitchen and then dropping chewed-up chicken wings onto their renters from the penthouse above. And that's just a fun twist in the financier's larger housing saga: he paid off a $10 million mortgage for the penthouse after telling a judge he had, whoops, no money. A fellow Icelandic investor finally helped Johannesson out of the jam by signing a $22 million deed for the apartment.

Julian Tzolov at the Grand Madison

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Ex-Credit Suisse broker Julian Tzolov spent a house arrest at 225 Fifth Avenue's Grand Madison before the threat of a fraud trial sent him on the lam. His apartment later sold at auction for $2,926,195, nearly a million more than he'd paid.

Jacob "Kobi" Alexander at the Park Imperial

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Jacob "Kobi" Alexander, a former CEO who was charged with fraud in 2006, lived in Midtown's Park Imperial before he relocated to Namibia to, uh, avoid those fraud charges. One of the Park Imperial apartments he used to own, on the 64th floor, has been on the rental market for $100,000/month or for sale at a price that's only available upon request.

Bernie Madoff's Penthouse

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Bernie Madoff himself owned a Ponzilicious pad at 133 East 64th Street. It was sold by, of course, the feds (actually, the whole United States of America, in deed parlance). Toy titans Al and Patsy Kahn paid a discounted $8 million for the property.

Jan-Dirk Paarlberg's Apartment

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Dutch investor Jan-Dirk Paarlberg was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for fraud, forgery, and money laundering, and one can't keep an apartment in the Dakota with that kind of rap sheet. Paarlberg's place sold for $4.6 million, money that, as usual in these cases, went straight to the U.S. Marshals.

Hassan Nemazee's Apartment

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As is the case with many of the other folks on this list, scamster Hassan Nemazee's real estate holdings are being sold by the feds to pay off his victims. One of the places was a 14th- and 15th-floor duplex in 770 Park Avenue, with an eye-popping monthly maintenance of $17,000. The place sold, after two years, for $18 million.

Kenneth Starr's UES Triplex

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Money manager-to-the-stars Kenneth Starr owned an apartment in the Upper East Side's Lux 74. So did Andrew Madoff, but Starr had the cooler pad: a triplex with a sauna, 1,500-square-foot yard, five bedrooms, six bathrooms, and a wet bar. But scams generally bring it all tumbling down, and so it went with Starr. His place hit the auction block, where it sold for $5.63 million in February 2012.

Peter Madoff's Co-op

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The Park Avenue apartment belonging to Peter Madoff, brother of Bernie, hit the market last summer courtesy of the U.S. Marshals Service. The asking price was $4 million, just a bit below what the Madoffs paid for it in 2004. And it's still for sale now for a slightly higher $4.6 million.

Rafaello Follieri's Rental

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Anne Hathaway's ex, fraudster Rafaello Follieri, used to live in Fifth Avenue's Olympic Tower. It later came on the market for $55,000/month and rented for $60,000, according to StreetEasy.

Marc Dreier's Apartment

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After fraudster lawyer Marc Dreier left One Beacon Court in disgrace, his place was auctioned off for $8.2 million. The buyer won the apartment's entire contents, including a half-eaten raspberry peach pie.

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Hassan Nemazee's Kids' Place

Hassan Nemazee didn't own an apartment just for himself. He also had apartments at 99-101 Warren Street for the kids. One of those condos, #5H, sold to a non-scandalous buyer for $3.1 million in 2010.

Mark Madoff's Soho Loft

Bernie Madoff's son Mark Madoff once owned an apartment in the New Museum Building, purchased for $6.075 million in 2005. After Mark Madoff's death, his wife listed the place for rent at $32,500/month and then again later for $35,000/month.

Marco Stoffel's House

This townhouse once belonged to embezzler/fraudster/philanthropist Marco Stoffel, though it was sold by the sheriff of the city of New York after a court decision against Stoffel in 2009. It's possible the current owner is the much less sketchy J. Christopher Burch.

Jon Asgeir Johannesson's Place

Icelandic financier/alleged scamster Jon Asgeir Johannesson was the subject of a lawsuit at 50 Gramercy Park North, where a tenant accused him and his wife of cheaping out on their Ikea kitchen and then dropping chewed-up chicken wings onto their renters from the penthouse above. And that's just a fun twist in the financier's larger housing saga: he paid off a $10 million mortgage for the penthouse after telling a judge he had, whoops, no money. A fellow Icelandic investor finally helped Johannesson out of the jam by signing a $22 million deed for the apartment.

Julian Tzolov at the Grand Madison

Ex-Credit Suisse broker Julian Tzolov spent a house arrest at 225 Fifth Avenue's Grand Madison before the threat of a fraud trial sent him on the lam. His apartment later sold at auction for $2,926,195, nearly a million more than he'd paid.

Jacob "Kobi" Alexander at the Park Imperial

Jacob "Kobi" Alexander, a former CEO who was charged with fraud in 2006, lived in Midtown's Park Imperial before he relocated to Namibia to, uh, avoid those fraud charges. One of the Park Imperial apartments he used to own, on the 64th floor, has been on the rental market for $100,000/month or for sale at a price that's only available upon request.

Bernie Madoff's Penthouse

Bernie Madoff himself owned a Ponzilicious pad at 133 East 64th Street. It was sold by, of course, the feds (actually, the whole United States of America, in deed parlance). Toy titans Al and Patsy Kahn paid a discounted $8 million for the property.

Jan-Dirk Paarlberg's Apartment

Dutch investor Jan-Dirk Paarlberg was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for fraud, forgery, and money laundering, and one can't keep an apartment in the Dakota with that kind of rap sheet. Paarlberg's place sold for $4.6 million, money that, as usual in these cases, went straight to the U.S. Marshals.

Hassan Nemazee's Apartment

As is the case with many of the other folks on this list, scamster Hassan Nemazee's real estate holdings are being sold by the feds to pay off his victims. One of the places was a 14th- and 15th-floor duplex in 770 Park Avenue, with an eye-popping monthly maintenance of $17,000. The place sold, after two years, for $18 million.

Kenneth Starr's UES Triplex

Money manager-to-the-stars Kenneth Starr owned an apartment in the Upper East Side's Lux 74. So did Andrew Madoff, but Starr had the cooler pad: a triplex with a sauna, 1,500-square-foot yard, five bedrooms, six bathrooms, and a wet bar. But scams generally bring it all tumbling down, and so it went with Starr. His place hit the auction block, where it sold for $5.63 million in February 2012.

Peter Madoff's Co-op

The Park Avenue apartment belonging to Peter Madoff, brother of Bernie, hit the market last summer courtesy of the U.S. Marshals Service. The asking price was $4 million, just a bit below what the Madoffs paid for it in 2004. And it's still for sale now for a slightly higher $4.6 million.

Rafaello Follieri's Rental

Anne Hathaway's ex, fraudster Rafaello Follieri, used to live in Fifth Avenue's Olympic Tower. It later came on the market for $55,000/month and rented for $60,000, according to StreetEasy.

Marc Dreier's Apartment

After fraudster lawyer Marc Dreier left One Beacon Court in disgrace, his place was auctioned off for $8.2 million. The buyer won the apartment's entire contents, including a half-eaten raspberry peach pie.