BRONX GRAND JURY INDICTS A MAN ON CHARGES OF ATTEMPTING TO STEAL A HOUSE FROM A SENIOR CITIZEN

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 41 year-old Bronx man has been indicted on charges of attempting to steal and sell the property of a 62 year-old neighbor.

A grand jury has charged Paul Marino, aka "Brian Cartania" of 4385 Vireo Avenue with one count each of Attempted Grand larceny in the 2^nd degree and Criminal possession of a forged instrument in the 2^nd degree, both "D" class felony offenses. It is alleged that Marino acted in concert with an unapprehended individual, in an attempt to sell the home of Maureen McMahon, a retired schoolteacher. If convicted, Marino faces a term of up to seven years imprisonment on each count. Marino is next scheduled to appear in Bronx Supreme Court, on Friday, May 14, 2004, in Part M60.

The attempted theft of property was uncovered when McMahon, the owner of targeted property on Vireo Avenue, in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx, found an employee of T. Eason Land Surveyors of Port Jefferson, L.I. surveying her property on behalf of Cartania Real Estate Holding Company. The victim contacted authorities who initiated a four-month joint investigation by the Bronx District Attorney’s Detective Squad and the United States Postal Office.

The indictment alleges that in November 2003, Marino, acting as a representative of the Cartania Real Estate Holding Company, and possessing a counterfeit deed with a forged signature, approached a third party and attempted to sell the McMahon home. The indictment further alleges that in the process of attempting to sell the house to the third party, the defendant supplied contracts for the sale of the house to the third party. The third party wrote a check in the amount of $37,500 as a down payment to a fictitious lawyer, who supposedly represented the Cartania Real Estate Holding Company, named on the forged deed.

Mr. Johnson thanked United States Postal Inspector Robert Moriarty, and acknowledged the hard work of Bronx District Attorney’s Arson / Economic Crime Bureau Chief Richard Baker, Stephen Nasta, Chief of Detective Investigators, and Detective Investigator Joseph Iodice.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Linda Tacoma of the Arson /Economic crime Bureau.