Konrad Bicher, 32, was sentenced to greater than 4 years in jail after pleading responsible to a long-running short-term rental rip-off that earned him greater than $1 million and his “Wolf of Airbnb” nickname.
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A Florida man who turned the self-proclaimed “Wolf of Airbnb” whereas defrauding Manhattan landlords and making the most of eviction protections through the COVID-19 pandemic was sentenced this week to his subsequent reserving: 4 years in jail.
The 32-year-old Konrad Bicher acquired his sentence on Monday after pleading responsible to a cost of wire fraud final yr. He was additionally ordered to fork over almost $4 million in restitution and damages.
Bicher stole over $1.1 million by a scheme that included renting 18 residences in New York Metropolis and subletting them on Airbnb whereas not paying the landlords. He averted being evicted due to pandemic-era protections for renters.
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Prosecutors additionally mentioned he stole over $565,000 from the federal government’s pandemic reduction program and likewise did not pay landlords greater than $1 million in hire.
“Bicher enriched himself by abusing Government programs and tenant protections intended to benefit people and businesses in need during one of the worst economic and public health crises in history,” U.S. Lawyer Damian Williams mentioned. “He bragged about his schemes to his friends and the media, proudly referring to himself as the ‘Wolf of Airbnb,’ but as today’s sentence underscores, those who partake in such callous and fraudulent conduct will answer for their crimes, no matter their self-given title.”
The scheme truly started earlier than the pandemic, prosecutors mentioned, with Bicher starting to hire residences in Manhattan beginning in February 2019.
The leases prohibited Bicher from subletting to 3rd events on a short-term foundation.
He continued renting the residences out on short-term platforms till the scheme got here to an finish in April 2022.
“During the course of the scheme, Bicher referred to himself as the ‘Wolf of Airbnb’ and explained to media outlets that this nickname referred to the fact that he was ‘hungry and ruthless enough to get on top of the financial ladder,’” prosecutors wrote. The nickname was a reference to infamous Wall Road dealer Jordan Belford, whose story turned a success 2013 movie by Martin Scorsese.
