MANHATTAN (CN) - Manhattan real estate developer Michael Hershkowitz was sentenced Thursday to 4 years in federal prison for his part in a $27 million Ponzi scheme involving fraudulent loans secured by nonexistent mortgages. Hershkowitz persuaded around 100 victims to loan the money to the Kingsland Group, allegedly to renovate 16 apartment buildings in Upper Manhattan.
Hershkowitz, 53, of New York City, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud, and was ordered to forfeit $27.2 million of his ill-gotten gains.
His accomplice, Ivy Woolf Turk, of Port Washington, N.Y., was sentenced in November to 5 years in prison and restitution.
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