Three women are accused of taking almost $900,000 in bribes, which they spent on fur coats, designer handbags and property in Florida, to help people snatch affordable New York apartments from thousands of families waiting on a list.
Anna Treybich, 71, Irina Zeltser, 66, and Karina Andriyan, 38, were charged on Tuesday for allegedly carrying out the housing bribery scheme in Brooklyn over the past six years while they ran a housing corporation board.
The three women were in charge of the process for which prospective buyers applied for high-demand cooperative apartments at the Luna Park Housing Corporation in Coney Island.
The Brooklyn District Attorney's office said the women accepted a total of $874,000 in bribes - ranging from $10,000 to $120,000 from ineligible applicants.
The three women were in charge of the process for which prospective buyers applied for high-demand cooperative apartments (above) at the Luna Park Housing Corporation at Coney Island in Brooklyn
The scheme involved 18 apartments and the market value of those properties is estimated to be about $5 million in total. The apartments were sold at prices significantly lower than market value and were in high demand.
The scheme allowed the ineligible applicants to jump ahead of the thousands of people waiting patiently for an affordable apartment, prosecutors said.
Some of the eligible applicants on the list had been waiting decades for an apartment in the five-building complex made up of studio, one, two and three bedroom apartments.
Treybich and Zeltser served on the Board of Directors of Luna Park as the president and treasurer.
Andriyan was the office manager and her job was to process the applications and maintain the waiting lists approved by the New York City Housing Preservation and Development Corporation.
Applicants for the apartment complex fell into three categories: Internal applicants wanting to move from one apartment to another; external applicants who had no prior ownership; and applicants who lived with owners and were seeking successor ownership rights.
The three women are accused of accepting a total of $874,000 in bribes, which they then spent on dozens of fur coats and designer handbags
The designer bags, shoes, jewelry and clothing were seized by authorities when they executed search warrants on their homes
Cartier rings and Chanel necklaces were among the items the women allegedly bought with the bribes they received from the housing scheme
The applications
