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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Lawyer Accused of Forging Judge’s Signature

MANHATTAN (CN) - An attorney who works for the Office of the Corporation Counsel for New York City was arrested Tuesday and charged with mortgage fraud and forging the signature of a bankruptcy judge on a false bankruptcy court order.

The U.S. Attorney's Office claims that after a property owner hired Hugh Zuber in 2006 to represent him in the sale of a building, Zuber arranged the sale to Alana Property Management for $950,000 - without telling his client that he had created Alana, and his sister managed it. Zuber persuaded his client to accept $400,000 in cash and a 10-year note, and when Zuber and Alana failed to meet payments on the note, prosecutors say, Zuber showed his client documents from a lawsuit he said he had filed against Alan, and an "Order Confirming Plan" allegedly from a bankruptcy court. "There were in fact no such proceedings in New York State of federal bankruptcy court," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

A similar tale unfolded in the sale of a house, prosecutors said.

Zuber, 38, of Monsey, N.Y., faces one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud and one count of forging a judicial signature. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.

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