“I have all my receipts…”
Dayanara Borbón talks about the payments of more than 40 thousand dollars that she and her family made to fulfill the dream of buying five properties in the Dominican Republic.
“Having a little corner where you can get to the Dominican Republic, listen to me, that is priceless and we took that dream like that and turned it into a nightmare,” Dayanara explained.
The nightmare began in October of last year, when after more than a year paying the real estate company IndisArq. He heard a program from the Dominican Republic about several victims of scams by this company. After investigating the owners, they learned of more than 50 victims in New York City and other states.
“We joined in and began to make the problem visible,” said Dayanara.
He says that they traveled to the Dominican Republic along with other families from the city and reported the fraud to local authorities against Enmanuel Rivera Ledesma, owner of the company. At the beginning of January of this year, Rivera Ledesma was arrested, who was working with his children and his wife. The case is under investigation.
According to the investigation, Rivera Ledesma collected millions of dollars in deposits for properties that he had no right to build or that were sold simultaneously to multiple buyers.
After the arrest, the Borbón family along with other victims filed a complaint against the state prosecutor’s office here in the city.
“We do not have jurisdiction because the case is from the Dominican Republic, what we are doing with the victims here in New York is giving the information, collecting all the information from the victims and giving it to the prosecutor’s office in the Dominican Republic,” explained Javier Medrano. , spokesperson for the NY State Attorney’s Office.
Congressman Adriano Espaillat posted a message on social networks about what was done in conjunction with the New York prosecutor.
“I commend @NewYorkStateAG James for his continued efforts to hold perpetrators and bad actors accountable.
“Scammers target our communities daily, especially minorities and seniors, and we encourage anyone who suspects they have been a victim to contact our offices,” the message reads.
I commend @NewYorkStateAG James for her continuous efforts to hold perpetrators and bad actors accountable.
Scammers are targeting our communities daily, especially minorities and seniors, and we encourage anyone who suspects they have been a victim to contact our offices. pic.twitter.com/TBJX8kGZQl
— Adriano Espaillat (@RepEspaillat) April 18, 2024
The prosecutor’s office has recommendations to avoid these frauds.
“Contact a lawyer in any investment process carried out abroad, keep all the documents of the investment process, never pay in cash, always by bank account check and have all the financial papers up to date,” he added. Medrano.
While the Borbón family says that the hardest thing of all is the damage to trust.
“Seeing how it has affected our family emotionally is something we had never gone through before and the last few months have been very difficult,” Borbón added.
They have a hearing in the Dominican Republic on July 7.
“We want our money to appear first and then for justice to do what they have to do,” said Borbón.
If you have been a victim of this type of fraud, you can call the prosecutor’s office at 800-771-7755.
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