The first guilty plea has been entered under New York State's new criminal deed theft law. A Glendale man on Thursday, the 5th, pleaded guilty to charges that he used forged deeds to take the home of an 88-year-old woman receiving hospice care in Kew Gardens Hills and took out a loan of more than $550,000 against it. Sentencing is set for Friday, Jan. 15, 2027.
According to the Queens news outlet QNS, New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced the first guilty plea under the state's new criminal deed theft law. Victor Quimis, 40, of Glendale, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, the 5th, in Queens Supreme Court to two counts of first-degree grand larceny and one count of second-degree residential mortgage fraud. The victim was Renuka Bherwani, then 88, an immigrant from India who was receiving hospice care at her Kew Gardens Hills home, which she had owned for nearly 40 years. Quimis's sentencing is set for Friday, Jan. 15, 2027.
According to the Attorney General's Office investigation, in October 2024 Quimis and Deepa Roy, 69, of Manhattan transferred ownership of the home to themselves for no payment, using a deed with Bherwani's forged signature. The notarization was also faked, using a forged stamp bearing the signature of a Nassau County notary and an incorrect date. In December of that year, they used a second forged deed to transfer ownership to Hunter Studios & Developer Corp., a company owned by Quimis, and then took out a $552,500 (about 700 million won) mortgage. The Attorney General's Office said the proceeds were used to pay off the existing loan and liens, and the remaining $312,037.57 was moved to the company's account and spent personally. Roy received at least $15,000 of that money by check. The two were indicted on multiple felony charges on Aug. 7, 2025, and Roy's trial is scheduled to begin Monday, Feb. 8, 2027.
The crime came to light in December 2024 when family members opened mail delivered to the house. Bherwani's son and daughter-in-law found a letter from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) addressed to Quimis, congratulating him on becoming the home's "new owner" and explaining how to set up an online bill-payment account. The family reported it to the Attorney General's Office that same month. Bherwani continued to receive home nursing care at the house until she died in June 2025. Roy had been coming and going from the house since 2022, telling caregivers she was a friend, and in the summer of 2024 she asked to live in a spare room, but the family refused.
According to the Attorney General's Office, Quimis will receive a state prison sentence of 1½ to 4½ years at sentencing. At that time, the two forged deeds will be voided and the home will be returned to the family, and the Attorney General's Office plans to ask that the mortgage placed on the property also be voided. Kamal Bherwani, a relative and the executor of the estate, urged people to contact the Attorney General's Office immediately if anything looks wrong with a deed.
QNS reported that residents of southeastern Queens have been especially vulnerable to deed theft. State Sen. Leroy Comrie noted that older residents and longtime homeowners are targeted. In this case, the fraud was discovered not through the property records but through city agency mail sent to the house. Elderly people who have owned their homes for many years, and family members who manage a parent's home on their behalf, should check whether mail such as water and sewer bills contains any notice of a change in ownership.