By Howard Koplowitz
A Jamaica man was charged Friday with grand larceny and other charges after he allegedly took a $10,000 down payment he received from a potential homeowner for the purchase of his Bellerose house and used the cash to make repairs to the property when the deal fell through, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Between June 3 and Feb. 24, 42-year-old Ramdhan Soogrim, formerly of 241-34 87th Ave. in Bellerose who now lives at 87-65 148th St. in Jamaica, requested and received the $10,000 from the victim as a down payment for purchase of the Bellerose home, Brown said.
When the deal fell through, the victim allegedly made numerous requests to Soogrim to return the money, but Soogrim refused, Brown said.
The DA claimed Soogrim used the money to make repairs on the Bellerose home.
“The defendant’s alleged fraudulent actions are particularly egregious as the victim in this case had no idea that her hard-earned savings would be stolen from her and that her American Dream of owning a home had to be put on hold,” Brown said in a statement.
Soogrim was awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court on charges of third-degree grand larceny and third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, the DA said.
The DA’s office could not be reached to determine if Soogrim had been arraigned by Tuesday afternoon.
If convicted, Soogrim faces up to seven years in prison, Brown said.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
