QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) – A man accused of stealing an elderly woman’s home by forging her signature is the first such arrest under a new deed theft law, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Thursday.
Victor Quimis, 39, was arrested on Monday in relation to a scheme that started in 2022, according to the AG. His associate, Deepa Roy, 68, has not yet been apprehended, but reportedly played a key role in the theft, James said.
Roy and Quimis are accused of forging 88-year-old Renuka Bherwani’s signature to transfer ownership of the Queens home she had owned since 1986, James said.
At the time, Bherwani was “completely bedridden” in end-of-life hospice care, unable to even feed herself, according to her son, Kamal Bherwani. Renuka Bherwani has since died.
“Losing a mother to failing health is devastating enough,” Kamal Bherwani said. “Trying to protect her home from fraudsters… has made that pain and sadness far more difficult.”
If Roy and Quimis are convicted, the stolen home will be returned to the Bherwani family, James said.
The reported scheme started in 2022, when Renuka Bherwani’s husband died. Roy allegedly started visiting Bherwani, who was recently diagnosed with dementia. Kamal Bherwani said he was happy for his mother to have a companion, and never expected the betrayal that would follow.
Two years later, Roy and Quimis allegedly forged a deed transferring ownership of the home for free, James said. It was then reportedly transferred to a corporation owned by Quimis and Roy, who profited off the mortgage.
Bherwani’s son discovered the deed theft while opening mail at his mother’s home.
“We learned of this brazen scheme by sheer accident,” Kamal Bherwani said. “Let these arrests serve as a warning. … Together we will turn outrage into action.”
The family has also filed civil lawsuits against Quimis and Roy, said Kamal Bherwani.
A new law went into effect in 2024, criminalizing deed theft as a form of grand larceny and extending the length of time prosecutors and homeowners can take legal action. It put the crime under the purview of the attorney general, who has previously referred deed theft cases out to district attorneys.
“Deed theft is heartless,” James said.
Older people and homeowners of color are particularly vulnerable to deed theft, when someone takes the title to a home without the homeowner’s knowledge or approval.
It’s a growing trend that is particularly rampant in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods across New York City, James said.
Representatives of Deepa Roy and Victor Quimis could not be immediately reached for comment.