By Jeremy Walsh
A Texas man has been indicted on grand larceny and other charges after allegedly swindling his elderly aunt out of her Corona home, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Stanley Foster, 52, of Kilgore, Texas, was charged with larceny, possessing stolen property, possession of a forged instrument, falsifying business records and offering a false instrument for filing, the DA said.
He was arraigned last Thursday in Queens Criminal Court and released on $50,000 bail. His next court date is Sept. 9. If convicted, Foster faces up to 15 years in prison, the DA said.
“The victim in this case was ill and confined to a nursing home, making her a vulnerable target for this defendant,” Brown said in a statement. “This is a serious crime which will be vigorously prosecuted.”
On Sept. 7, 2005, Foster allegedly used a fraudulent power of attorney that had been given to his late father but never filed to transfer ownership of a home on 112th Street from his 73-year-old aunt, Mattie Love, to himself, Brown said.
On April 5, 2006, Foster allegedly took out a $150,000 mortgage from Freemont Bank on the home, authorities said. Then in June 2006, Foster got a second mortgage from Wells Fargo for $225,000 and used it to pay off the first mortgage and a car loan, Brown said.
He allegedly deposited the remaining amount of about $41,000 in an account belonging to his girlfriend, Magda Remegio.
As Love’s health deteriorated, a guardian, Nishandi Naidoo, was appointed to oversee her finances and was able to negotiate with Foster to return the deed to his aunt’s name, Brown said. Love is currently being cared for in a nursing home, the DA’s office said.
But the guardian was not aware of the Wells Fargo mortgage until the bank foreclosed on the home in late 2007, the DA said. The home was purchased sometime in late 2008 or early 2009 by Louis Wu, according to city Finance Department records.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jewalsh@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
