Saturday, July 19, 2008

Fakin' it all the way to jail

An Israeli businessman Thursday admitted illegally renting hundreds of Manhattan apartments - including some in high-profile upper West Side apartment buildings - as makeshift hotel rooms to tourists.

Fake hotel mogul may check in to a real prison cell

Raziel Ofer, 48, amassed a mini hotel empire by renting the flats and subletting them for up to $1,000 a night to tourists on his woogu.com Web site.

He collected more than $1.4million in sales tax, but never forwarded the cash to the state, and also evaded up to $2 million in other fees.

"Illegal hotels are getting to be a major problem," said Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. "An international entrepreneur can operate a lucrative business without shouldering any of the tax burden."


And they're still in business: WooGo

Why hasn't the city shut these illegal hotels down?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just another piece of trash coming here and making his fortune and keeping it all for himself. He is using the system for his own needs and maybe he'll get a slap on the wrist. If our legal system handed out real harsh sentences people would think twice and play by the rules most of us play by. I'll wait and see what happens to him.

Anonymous said...

No, don't tell me....
illegal hotels in Manhattan!

Just cross the river into Queens
where dormitories catering to illegal
day workers, unlawful boarding houses
and hotels without proper licenses (or fire safety) abound!

Are your stooges still scoping all this stuff your "honor"?

Anonymous said...

Now just how many Israeli "goniffs" have been caught, to date, conducting illegal activities in New York City ?

Or do you still persist in ranting that we're a bunch of "anti Semites"? !!!

Well, the facts are the facts!

Throw this bum into a Muslim prison in Syria, where they know how to treat a crooked Israeli bastard!

Anonymous said...

Now there's a truly illegal occupation!