New York Attorney General Letitia James on Friday secured more than $4.2 million for at least 20 Brooklyn families after they were defrauded out of their life savings when they bought non-existent condominium units in Bay Ridge.
James sued Xi Hui "Steven Wu, his ex-wife Xiao Rong Yang, and his companies TCJ Construction Inc. and 345 Ovington LLC in 2022 after an investigation found that Wu orchestrated a years-long scheme to sell fake condominium units at 345 Ovington Ave. and steal more than $5 million from families in his own community. On Friday, the New York Supreme Court awarded $4,227,888 in restitution, plus 9% interest dating back to 2016, with the full amount to be returned to the families, officials said.
“Steven Wu preyed on hardworking immigrant families, abused their trust, and stole the savings they had set aside to build a stable future,” James said in a statement. “These families believed they were buying homes, when in reality, they were being sold nothing but lies. This order returns money to the families Wu cheated and ensures he can never again exploit New Yorkers through fraudulent real estate schemes. I am thrilled that these families will finally see justice.”
The residents of the building, the nonprofit Asian Americans for Equality, in partnership with the New York AG's office, New York Homes and Community Renewal and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development worked together to take the building back several years ago.
“We are grateful to Attorney General James and happy for the 20 families at 345 Ovington [Avenue] who have finally seen justice prevail after nearly losing everything as a result of this fraudulent scheme,” said Thomas Yu, the executive director of Asian Americans for Equality. “Not only did Attorney General James successfully prosecute this case, but she worked with the residents and AAFE to prevent any evictions and ensure that the dream of homeownership stayed alive for these families."
In January 2013, Wu submitted an offering plan to OAG for a proposed 25-unit condominium building at 345 Ovington Ave. While the offering plan was filed with OAG, Wu never completed the required steps with the New York City Department of Finance to legally create a condominium. The building was never subdivided into individual units, no separate tax lots were established, and no lawful condominium deeds were ever created, according to officials.
Despite having no legal authority to sell condominium units, Wu proceeded to “sell” units to at least 20 immigrant Chinese families, many of whom moved into the building under the assumption that they owned their homes. Wu targeted families who trusted him as a prominent developer in the neighborhood and relied on informal, single-page agreements written in Chinese, rather than formal purchase contracts as required by law. In reality, there were no condominium units to sell, and the families received no legal ownership interest in exchange for their payments, officials said.
In addition to collecting down payments — and in some cases, full payments — from the families, Wu also collected monthly residential mortgage payments from many of the residents who did not pay for their units in full. Nearly all of the residents were also making monthly payments to Wu, which they believed were for condominium common charges. However, because no condominium actually existed, these payments were essentially direct payments to Wu.
Over several years, Wu stole more than $5 million from immigrant families, draining their life savings while using the money to cover his own loans and construction expenses, according to James.
The OAG also found that Wu repeatedly lied to regulators and fabricated documents in an effort to conceal his fraud. When questioned by OAG, Wu submitted fake purchase agreements and escrow documentation to make it appear that he lawfully collected and held purchaser deposits. In fact, Wu failed to place any of the purchaser deposits in escrow accounts, instead pocketing the families’ real payments, in direct violation of New York law, officials said.
