Queens real estate broker charged in $1.6 million real estate investment scam

District Attorney Richard Brown announced Wednesday that a Bayside real estate broker has been charged with defrauding four real estate investors out of more than $1.5 million which she allegedly used to pay off personal and business loans.

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Shelly W. Cao, 40, of 45-63 218th Street in Bayside. She was arraigned yesterday before Queens Criminal Court Judge Ira Margulies on a criminal complaint charging her with first-, second- and third-degree grand larceny, first- and second-degree criminal possession of stolen property and first-degree scheme to defraud. Judge Margulies set bail at $1 million and ordered the defendant to return to court on February 6, 2007. If convicted, she faces up to fifteen years in prison.

District Attorney Brown said that, according to the criminal complaint, the defendant offered to purchase real estate in upstate New York for investors as part of an agreement to create a new joint company for the ongoing purchase of real estate for investment purposes. It is alleged that between February 12, 2005, and August 31, 2005, she accepted a total of $1,597,615 from four businessmen wishing to invest in the venture.

The District Attorney said that the complaint further alleges that the defendant deposited her victims’ funds into her personal and/or business accounts to pay off loans owed by her or her companies: Wei’s Realty Corp., #1 Funding Center, Inc., and Perfect Funding Corp, all located at 136-31 Roosevelt Avenue in Queens. The complaint further charges that the defendant never formed a new joint company nor did she make any purchases on behalf of the venture.