Attorney General James Announces Conviction of Leader of Queens Deed Theft Ring

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced the conviction and sentencing of Marcus Wilcher, the leader of a Queens deed theft ring that stole homes in Jamaica and St. Albans, Queens owned by elderly or disabled New Yorkers or their estates. Wilcher and his crew fraudulently sold three homes without the knowledge and permission of the rightful property owners and pocketed over $1 million from the sale proceeds. Wilcher pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree on May 23, 2024 and was sentenced today to three to nine years in prison for his role in the deed theft ring and for the theft of two additional properties in Queens. 

“New Yorkers should never have to fear losing their homes to deceitful schemes like deed theft,” said Attorney General James. “Marcus Wilcher and his associates targeted elderly and vulnerable New Yorkers with a predatory scheme that inflicted significant financial and emotional harm. New Yorkers work their entire lives to secure a home, and deed theft threatens to rob them of the generational wealth they have built for their families. I am proud of my office’s work to put a stop to this fraud displacing our most vulnerable communities, and I will continue working to keep New Yorkers safe and secure in their homes.” 

Wilcher and his crew, which included disbarred attorney Anyekache Hercules, former mortgage broker Stacie Saunders, and fellow co-conspirators Jerry Currin and Dean Lloyd, targeted homes owned by elderly or otherwise vulnerable owners or estates that were in distressed condition. Wilcher located homes in Jamaica and St. Albans, Queens in poor or run-down condition with absentee owners. Saunders then marketed the homes to investors at prices significantly below market rate for quick sales. After an investor expressed interest in purchasing a home, Wilcher would secure personal information about the real owners, including social security numbers and birth dates, to create falsified drivers’ licenses, social security cards, and bank cards. Wilcher and Saunders then found people to impersonate the owners of the properties at contract signings and closings.

The crew members divided up the sale proceeds amounting to over $1 million for three of the homes and deprived the true owners of those proceeds. The crew also used corporate entities to launder the ill-gotten gains from the illegal sales and used out-of-state banks to launder the stolen proceeds from the thefts. Wilcher took the largest cut from the three sales, transferring over $500,000 into various bank accounts he controlled.  

In December 2022, Attorney General James announced the arrests and indictment of Wilcher, Saunders, Hercules, Currin, and Lloyd. Wilcher was arrested in Georgia as a result of a coordinated effort between OAG and local law enforcement agencies, including the Georgia Bureau of Investigations and Georgia’s Attorney General’s Office. On May 23, 2024, Wilcher appeared before Supreme Court Judge Leigh Cheng in Queens County and pleaded guilty to the top count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree for the theft of three Queens homes as charged in the December 2022 indictment.

After the indictment, OAG uncovered two more home thefts committed by Wilcher, also in Queens. Wilcher fraudulently stole the homes using impostor sellers and laundered the stolen proceeds from the sale in the same manner as the properties he stole with his deed theft ring. The OAG brought another set of individual charges against Wilcher for one of the thefts and the Queens District Attorney charged Wilcher for the other. Wilcher was convicted of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree and sentenced to three to nine years in prison for the thefts of the five homes. 

Wilcher’s codefendant Anyekache Hercules, who was previously convicted of deed theft in Kings County, pleaded guilty to Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree and is scheduled to be sentenced in September to one and a half to three years in prison. Jerry Currin and Dean Lloyd pleaded guilty to felony counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree. Stacie Saunders is awaiting trial and is considered innocent until proven guilty.

This is the latest in Attorney General James’ efforts to protect New York homeowners from deed theft and other housing-related scams. In July 2023, Attorney General James announced the indictment and arraignment of Joseph Makhani of Long Island for deed theft . In April 2023, Attorney General James announced two pieces of legislation to strengthen protections and remedies for victims of deed theft, which have both been signed into law. In February 2021, Attorney General James announced an $800,000 grant to combat deed theft in vulnerable neighborhoods. Attorney General James also launched the Protect Our Homes initiative in January 2020 and announced the formation of an interagency law enforcement task force to respond to deed theft and other real estate fraud.  

The OAG thanks the Queens County District Attorney’s Office for their aid in the arrest and conviction of Marcus Wilcher on the two newly discovered stolen properties, particularly Senior Assistant Attorney General Talia Vogel of the Queens County District Attorney’s Housing and Worker Protection Bureau. The OAG recognizes Queens County District Attorney Melinda Katz’s efforts to fight deed theft and her assistance with this investigation and prosecution.

The case was investigated for OAG by Detective Steven Pratt under the direction of Detective Supervisor Anna Ospanova, Assistant Chief Samuel Scotellaro, and Deputy Chief Juanita Bright of the Major Investigations Unit. The Investigations Bureau is led by Chief Oliver Pu-Folkes. 

Assistant Attorneys General Nicholas Kyriacou and Aida Vernon handled the prosecution in this matter under the supervision of Public Integrity Bureau Chief Gerard Murphy, Deputy Bureau Chief Kiran Heer, and Real Estate Enforcement Unit Section Chief Nick Batsidis, with assistance from Legal Support Analyst Crystal Bisbano. The audit was undertaken by Senior Auditor Investigator Danielle Dudley under the supervision of Deputy Chief Auditor Sandy Bizzarro. The audit team is led by Chief Auditor Kristen Fabbri. Both the Investigations Bureau and the Public Integrity Bureau are part of the Division for Criminal Justice. The Division for Criminal Justice is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General José Maldonado and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.