NEW YORK—A former real estate investor was indicted on Monday by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.
Adam Hochfelder Jr., 38, allegedly tried to cheat investors out of money by falsely convincing them to give him money to invest in property in upstate New York and Colorado.
Starting in August 2007, Hochfelder told friends and business partners that he would buy Sagamore Hotel on Lake George and the Peaks Resort in Telluride, Colorado. They gave him approximately $2.5 million to get in on the deal. However, according to the DA's office, Hochfelder never went through with buying the property.
“The defendant systematically defrauded his friends, family, and business associates out of millions of dollars through phony real estate deals, repeatedly abusing the trust of those who believed he was an upstanding businessman,” said DA Vance in a statement.
Hochfelder told his investors that he had a contract to buy the Sagamore and they could buy a piece of the property. The DA alleges that Hochfelder actually did not complete the deal with the Sagamore.
Money he received in the deal then went to his own personal expenses “including outstanding legal bills, overdue creditors, a personal driver, and trips on a private jet,” said the DA's office. Around $500,000 was loaned to him for the Sagamore hotel purchase.
The other $2 million was loaned to him for the purchase of the Peaks Resort in Colorado, said the DA's office.
These new charges come after Hochfelder was indicted in 2008 for 58 counts of trying to defraud his friends, family, and banks into lending him $17 million.
Hochfelder, the former chairman of Max Capital Management Corp., pleaded not guilty, according to a Dow Jones report.
"It was Mr. Hochfelder who brought his own misdeeds to the DA's attention even though there was no investigation," Agnifilo said. "He has cooperated with the DA consistently over the past six years, and continues to do so."
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Sunday, March 14, 2010
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