Dominicans in New York among scores victimized in real estate scam, AG warns

Published Apr 21, 2024 at 11:07 a.m. ET

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Published Apr 21, 2024 at 11:07 a.m. ET

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When the family of Bronx resident Linaures Crescioni heard about a real estate investment deal in the Dominican Republic two years ago, they did their due diligence and asked a lawyer friend to check whether the businessperson behind the deal was above board.

“She went to the bank to confirm that this is a legitimate business,” said Crescioni, 27, a math tutor who is getting a degree in computer science and was born in the Dominican Republic. The lawyer, based in that country, “checked off everything,” giving her family a measure of assurance, Crescioni said.

As it turns out, that confidence was misplaced, according to investigators in the island nation. Nearly 150 people, including two dozen New Yorkers, invested more than $11 million with Emmanuel Riversa Ledesma and his company, InDisArq, but it was all a fraud, according to the officials. None of the investment properties exist.

Among those who say they were taken in were Crescioni, who invested close to $10,000 in a commercial space, while her father, Edwin Crescioni, invested $17,832, and her uncle Juan Borbon invested $29,000, Linaures Crescioni said.

New York Attorney General Letitia James and Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a Democrat representing upper Manhattan and the Bronx, issued a consumer alert about the case last week. Rivera Ledesma, according to the alert, had been charged in the Dominican Republic with dealing in fraudulent real estate listings. It said he “collected millions of dollars in deposits for properties that he either did not have the rights to build, or were simultaneously sold to multiple buyers.”

“New Yorkers should always be suspicious of speculative real estate deals where they are asked to buy property sight unseen,” James said in a statement. “I encourage anyone who may be a victim of a real estate scam or fraud to report it to my office.”

According to officials in the Dominican Republic, law enforcement officials conducted 25 raids as part of an investigation known as Operation Nest. Rivera Ledesma and others allegedly involved in the scheme were taken into custody, and he remains in preventive detention.

Government officials in the Dominican Republic did not respond to questions about the case, and a lawyer for Rivera Ledesma could not be reached. An aide to James said the New York Attorney General’s Office was not involved in the prosecution.

As it became increasingly clear they had been victimized, Crescioni said her mother, Dayana Borbon, helped generate attention. She organized rallies in New York and the Dominican Republic with other alleged victims and connected with people in the Dominican Republic who had similar stories.

“We are all trying to fight this together,” said Serge Frances, a 69-year-old French retiree who has lived in Santo Domingo for the last 10 years and said he was scammed out of $48,000. “We want to set a precedent so that this never happens again.”

Walter Henao Reynoso, 38, from Woodhaven, Queens, said he traveled to the Dominican Republic for an April 6 court appointment.

“The people who scammed us had to see the judge, so victims from New York came to be present,” he said.

Reynoso said he’d lost $21,030.

“I am feeling horrible,” he said. “Helpless, mad, tired, sad, desperate emotionally and mentally. I was robbed of almost all of my life savings.”

According to Crescioni, “The money is honestly nowhere to be found.”

“God willing, we get our money back,” she said, but if not, she hopes “that this doesn't happen to hundreds of people again.”

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Arun Venugopal is a senior reporter for the WNYC and Gothamist Race & Justice Unit who focuses on issues of race and bias in our region. His reporting also tackles the topics of immigration, faith, and inequality. Arun serves as the regular fill-in host of the station's "U.S. of Anxiety" program. Arun was the creator and host of Micropolis, a series about race and identity. He is a contributor to NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. He has appeared on PBS Newshour, On the Media and Studio 360, and has been published in The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal and Salon. He also frequently serves as an emcee and moderator of panel discussions on race, religion, and identity issues and has been a guest host of NPR's "Fresh Air." He lives with his family in Queens.

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