Florida Man Dubbed “Wolf of Airbnb” Gets 50 Months Prison for Scamming NYC Landlords and Covid-19 Relief Funds
A man who referred to himself as the “Wolf of Airbnb” was found guilty of scamming landlords in New York City as well as the United States Government and received a sentence of more than fifty months in prison. On Monday, Chief United States Attorney Damian Williams announced the punishment.
Between July 2019 and April 2022, the individual who has been identified as Konrad Bicher from Florida failed to make rent payments totaling more than one million dollars. According to the prosecution, Bicher rented out the units on Airbnb, resulting in a minimum income of $1,170,000. Bicher was sued by landlords to prevent him from advertising the properties and to recover the rent that had not been paid.
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Additionally, during the COVID-19 outbreak, Bicher fraudulently received over $565,000 through the Paycheck Protection Program by utilizing forged documents and misleading information. This was done to commit the crime.
One year ago, Bicher entered a guilty plea to the charge of wire fraud, and he was subsequently sentenced to four years and three months in jail. In addition to that, he was ordered to pay restitution for $2.2 million and forfeit $1.7 million. During the sentencing, Bicher decided to remain silent.
His lawyers had requested a reduced sentence, pointing the finger of blame at the landlords for some of the problems that had occurred with the Manhattan flats.
On the other hand, the prosecution alleged that Bicher had lied about his residency to take advantage of the tenant protections that are available in New York City and that he had fraudulently claimed to be suffering from difficulties related to the coronavirus.
During the time that he was committing the fraud, Bicher was residing in Florida and traveling from time to time for leisure, according to the prosecution.
In his boasts, he referred to himself as the “Wolf of Airbnb,” which is a reference to the book “Wolf of Wall Street,” which is a memoir about a stockbroker who was threatened with imprisonment for financial crimes.
Williams stated that individuals who engage in such callous and deceptive behavior will be held accountable for their actions, regardless of the title that they have bestowed upon themselves.