Sealed Complaint — United States v. Konrad Bicher (S.D.N.Y.)
Summary
A Sealed Complaint filed 06/27/22 as Document 1 in United States of America v. Konrad Bicher, 22 MAG 5371 (1:22-cr-00589-LGS), U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, before the Honorable Stewart D. Aaron, United States Magistrate Judge. FBI Special Agent Zachary Effting charges in Count One, headed Wire Fraud and citing 18 U.S.C. § 1343, that from at least in or about February 2019 up to and including at least April 2022 the defendant entered into lease agreements to rent apartment units in Manhattan with the intent to violate the lease terms, including by failing to make required monthly rental payments and by renting the units to third parties on a short-term basis. The affidavit states that the defendant failed to pay more than $1,000,000 under the lease agreements.
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“Sealed Complaint — United States v. Konrad Bicher (S.D.N.Y.).”
Original at archive.org. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/court-filing-no-1-22-cr-00589-dkt-1-s-d-n-y-f0866e7fdf/
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Case 1:22-cr-00589-LGS Document 1 Filed 06/27/22 Page 1 of 9
Approved: __________________________________
MATTHEW WEINBERG
Assistant United States Attorney
Before: HONORABLE STEWART D. AARON
United States Magistrate Judge
Southern District of New York
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22 MAG 5371
: SEALED COMPLAINT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA :
: Violation of
- v. - : 18 U.S.C. § 1343,
: and 2
KONRAD BICHER, :
: COUNTY OF OFFENSE:
Defendant. : NEW YORK
:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, ss.:
Zachary Effting, being duly sworn, deposes and says that he
is a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(“FBI”), and charges as follows:
COUNT ONE
(Wire Fraud)
1. From at least in or about February 2019, up to and
including at least April 2022, in the Southern District of New
York and elsewhere, KONRAD BICHER, the defendant, willfully and
knowingly, having devised and intending to devise a scheme and
artifice to defraud, and for obtaining money and property by
means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and
promises, and attempting to do so, did transmit and cause to be
transmitted by means of wire, radio, and television
communication in interstate and foreign commerce, writings,
signs, signals, pictures, and sounds, for the purpose of
executing such scheme and artifice, to wit, BICHER entered into
lease agreements (the “Lease Agreements”) to rent various
apartment units (the “Units”) in Manhattan with the intent to
violate the terms of the Lease Agreements, including by failing
to make required monthly rental payments and by renting the
Units to third parties on a short-term basis, including through
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posting the Units for rent on at least two online marketplaces
for short-term rentals (“Online Marketplace-1” and “Online
Marketplace-2,” collectively the “Online Marketplaces”).
(Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343 and 2.)
The bases for my knowledge and for the foregoing
charge are, in part, as follows:
2. I am a Special Agent with the FBI. I have been
personally involved in the investigation of this matter, and I
base this affidavit on that personal experience, as well as on
my conversations with landlords and property managers who have
entered into and/or managed lease agreements with KONRAD BICHER,
the defendant, other law enforcement agents, and my examination
of various reports and records. Because this affidavit is being
submitted for the limited purpose of establishing probable cause
for the offenses cited above, it does not include all the facts
that I have learned during the course of the investigation.
Where the contents of conversations of others are reported
herein, they are reported in substance and in part.
OVERVIEW OF RENTAL PROPERTY SCHEME
3. As set forth in further detail below, based on my
involvement in this investigation, I have learned the following:
a. Beginning in or about February 2019, KONRAD
BICHER, the defendant, and/or individuals working in concert
with BICHER, entered into at least 18 Lease Agreements for Units
in Manhattan.
b. The Lease Agreements required the lessee to make
monthly rental payments. The Lease Agreements also either
included clauses that prohibited the lessee from renting the
Units to third parties on a short-term basis and/or clauses that
prohibited the lessee from subletting the Units to third parties
without written consent of the owner.
c. Despite the requirement to make monthly rental
payments, KONRAD BICHER, the defendant, failed to make payments
as required by the Lease Agreements. For many of the Units,
BICHER also refused to vacate the Units after the expiration of
the Lease Agreements. During the period of time that BICHER
failed to make required rental payments, including the period of
time after a Lease Agreement expired and the premises had not
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been vacated, BICHER derived income by renting the Units on a
short-term basis, including by posting the Units for rent on the
Online Marketplaces.
d. Between in or about at least July 2019 and in or
about at least April 2022, KONRAD BICHER, the defendant, and his
associates, failed to pay more than $1,000,000 in payments
pursuant to the Lease Agreements or, for the period of time
after the expiration of the Lease Agreements, based on an
estimated fair market value for the Units. During this period,
BICHER caused the Units to be listed for short-term rent on
Online Marketplace-1 and/or Online Marketplace-2, resulting in
at least $1,170,000 million in rental income to BICHER and/or
his associates.
BICHER ENTERS INTO AND/OR CONTROLS AT LEAST 18 LEASE AGREEMENTS
FOR UNITS LOCATED IN MANHATTAN
4. Based on my communications with at least eight
landlords and property managers of residential apartment
buildings in Manhattan (the “Building Managers”) and my review
of documents provided by the Building Managers, I know the
following:
a. Between in or about at least April 2019 and in or
about April 2020, the Building Managers collectively entered
into at least nine Lease Agreements in which KONRAD BICHER, the
defendant, was the lessee (the “Bicher Individual Lease
Agreements”).
b. In or about January 2020, one of the Building
Managers entered into a Lease Agreement in which the lessee was
identified as a particular company (“Company-1”) and was signed
by BICHER as a “member” of Company-1 (collectively with the
Bicher Individual Lease Agreements, the “Bicher Lease
Agreements”).
c. Between at least in or about June 2019 and in or
about November 2019, the Building Managers collectively entered
into at least eight Lease Agreements with individuals other than
BICHER, but whom, for the reasons described infra at paragraphs
5-6, the Building Managers understand were affiliated with
BICHER (the “Bicher-Affiliated Lease Agreements”).
d. Each of the Lease Agreements required the lessees
to make monthly rental payments. The aggregate monthly rental
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Case 1:22-cr-00589-LGS Document 1 Filed 06/27/22 Page 4 of 9
payments pursuant to the Lease Agreements was approximately
$66,000.
e. Each of the Lease Agreements had a clause which
prohibited the lessee from renting the Units on a short-term
basis – consistent with New York City laws which generally
prohibit rentals in apartment buildings of under 30 days –
and/or a clause prohibiting the lessee from subletting the Unit
without written consent of the Unit’s owner.
f. For each Unit rented pursuant to the Lease
Agreements, at some point after entering into the Lease
Agreement, BICHER and/or the lessee affiliated with BICHER
ceased making the required monthly rental payments for the Unit.
For at least 15 Units, BICHER and/or the lessee affiliated with
BICHER also failed to vacate the Unit at the expiration of the
term of the Lease Agreement.
g. The last time that BICHER and/or the lessee
affiliated with BICHER made a rent payment pursuant to any of
the Lease Agreements was in or about November 2020.
h. As of April 2022, BICHER and/or the lessee
affiliated with BICHER owed over $1,000,000 in rental payments,
either pursuant to the terms of the Lease Agreements or based on
an estimated fair monthly value of the property for the
continued use of the Unit after the term of the Lease Agreement.
i. During the time period that BICHER and/or the
lessees affiliated with BICHER failed to make rental payments
pursuant to the Lease Agreements, the Building Managers made
numerous efforts to remove BICHER from the Unit and/or to obtain
monthly rental payments. For example:
i. On or about June 29, 2020, one of the
Building Managers for a Unit (“Unit-1”) leased pursuant to a
Bicher Individual Lease Agreement sent BICHER a notice that it
intended to terminate the lease for the Unit (“Unit-1”). BICHER
had not paid rent for Unit-1 since in or about November 2019.
Thereafter, on or about March 29, 2021, legal counsel for the
Building Manager sent BICHER a letter stating that BICHER owed
$40,800 in rent payments and income in connection with Unit-1.
ii. On or about October 23, 2020, another
Building Manager for a Unit (“Unit-2”) leased pursuant to a
Bicher Individual Lease Agreement sent BICHER and another
individual who signed the lease (“Individual-1”) a notice that
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it intended not to renew the lease for the Unit. BICHER and
Individual-1 had not paid rent for Unit-2 since in or about
March 2020. Thereafter, on or about February 23, 2022, legal
counsel for the Building Manager filed a Holdover Petition in
Civil Court of the City of New York seeking an order that BICHER
and Individual-1 return Unit-2 to the Building Manager and that
BICHER and Individual-1 be required to pay, among other things,
(a) $27,900 in rent owed pursuant to the Lease Agreement, which
expired on or about December 31, 2020, and (b) a money judgment
for the use and occupation of Unit-2 beyond the expiration of
the Lease Agreement, estimated at approximately $3,300 per
month.
5. Based on my review of records from the Online
Marketplaces and banks, I know that each of the Units rented
pursuant to the Lease Agreements, including the Bicher-
Affiliated Lease Agreements, were posted for rent by user
accounts on Online Marketplace-1 and/or Online Marketplace-2
which, for the reasons described infra paragraphs 10-14, I
understand to be affiliated with KONRAD BICHER, the defendant.
6. In addition, based on my review of materials provided
by the Building Managers, I know that KONRAD BICHER, the
defendant, appears to be affiliated with the individuals who
signed as the lessee for each of the eight Units rented pursuant
to the Bicher-Affiliated Lease Agreements. Specifically:
a. The lessee for one of the Bicher-Affiliated Lease
Agreements is Individual-1, that is, the same individual who co-
signed one of the Bicher Individual Lease Agreements,
specifically the Lease Agreement for Unit-1, as described supra
paragraph 4.i.ii.
b. The lessee for four of the Bicher-Affiliated
Lease Agreements was another individual (“Individual-2”). On or
about May 19, 2019, Individual-2 entered into one of the Bicher-
Affiliated Lease Agreements for a particular unit (“Unit-3”).
On or about August 1, 2019, the Lease Agreement for Unit-3 was
amended to add an individual with the last name “Bicher” (but a
first name other than “Konrad”) to the Lease Agreement as a
lessee. A credit card authorization form signed on July 30,
2019 provided a credit card held in the name of “Konrad Bicher”
as a means of payment for the individual with the last name
“Bicher.” In addition, on or about August 5, 2021, in response
to an email from a Building Manager in which the Building
Manager noted that the contact phone number for the lease
belonged to BICHER, rather than Individual-2, and noted that
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Case 1:22-cr-00589-LGS Document 1 Filed 06/27/22 Page 6 of 9
BICHER, who was not the lessee, had asked the front desk to
provide copies of keys to guests of the Unit, Individual-2
replied that “Konrad is my husband and we have access to [the]
same number.” 1
c. The lessee for two of the Bicher-Affiliated Lease
Agreements was another individual (“Individual-3”). On or about
July 10, 2019, Individual-3 signed one of the Bicher-Affiliated
Lease Agreements for a particular unit (“Unit-4”). In or about
April 2020, the landlord for Unit-4 sought to contact
Individual-3 with respect to a check for rental payments for
Unit-4 which had bounced. Thereafter, on or about May 4, 2020,
the landlord received an email from “Konrad Bicher” at the email
address “bichermanagement” at a particular email service
provider, which stated: “To whom this may concern, [Individual-
3] is not the tenant living in the unit, I am Conrad Bicher
[sic]. As advised by my lawyer I should wait to pay rent until
pandemic is over.” The email was signed “Conrad.” Thereafter,
litigation was initiated in connection with the use of Unit-4.
In connection with that litigation, on or about July 29, 2020,
Individual-3 filed an affidavit which stated, among other
things, that Individual-3 “den[ies] ever taking possession” of
Unit-4” that the “only person(s) having possession and/or a
legal right to [Unit-4] during all relevant period was/were
Konrad Bicher and/or Mr. Bicher’s licensees, etc.,” and that
“Konrad Bicher” was Individual-3’s “business associate.”
d. The lessee for the remaining Bicher-Affiliated
Lease Agreement was an individual with the last name “Bicher.”
The first name of the lessee was not “Konrad,” but the Unit
subject to this Lease Agreement is in the same building as two
other Units which were leased by BICHER pursuant to two of the
Bicher Individual Lease Agreements.
7. Based on my training and experience, and for the
reasons set forth in paragraphs 5 and 6 supra, I therefore
believe that each of the individuals who signed a Bicher-
Affiliated Lease Agreement is associated with KONRAD BICHER, the
defendant, and that the Bicher-Affiliated Lease Agreements were,
in fact, controlled and/or held by BICHER.
1 Based on public records searches, I am aware of no information
indicating that BICHER and Individual-2 are, in fact, married.
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Case 1:22-cr-00589-LGS Document 1 Filed 06/27/22 Page 7 of 9
BICHER RENTS UNITS ON A SHORT-TERM BASIS ON THE ONLINE
MARKETPLACES, IN VIOLATION OF THE LEASE AGREEMENTS
8. Based on my review of publicly available information
disseminated by Online Marketplace-1, I understand that Online
Marketplace-1 is an online marketplace which allows individuals
and/or entities, referred to as “Hosts,” to list and advertise
their real estate properties for rent. Properties rented
through Online Marketplace-1 are typically rented for at least
one night, but may be rented for longer periods of time.
Individuals interested in renting properties on a short-term
basis can review information about properties and book and pay
for properties through Online Marketplace-1. The Host then
receives the rental payments for the property from Online
Marketplace-1.
9. Based on my review of publicly available information
disseminated by Online Marketplace-2, I understand that Online
Marketplace-2 is an online marketplace which allows individuals
and/or entities to list and advertise their real estate
properties for rent. Unlike Online Marketplace-1, through which
individuals offer properties for overnight stays, properties
listed for rent on Online Marketplace-2 are typically advertised
for specific events, such as meetings and/or video productions.
Online Marketplace-2 does not allow renters to reserve
properties for overnight stays. After booking a property on
Online Marketplace-2, the renter makes payment through Online
Marketplace-2.
10. Based on my review of records from Online Marketplace-
1, I know that there are at least 30 user accounts which rented
the Units and received revenues from those rentals through
Online Marketplace-1. Those user accounts (the “Online
Marketplace-1 User Accounts”) sent money received for rental
payments for the Units to at least 33 different accounts at
eight different banks and/or online payment processing companies
(the “Accounts”).
11. Based on my review of records from the Banks, I know
that at least 11 of the Accounts were held in the name of KONRAD
BICHER, the defendant, or in the name of companies for which
BICHER was the signatory of the Account (the “Bicher Accounts”).
For at least three of the Accounts, a particular phone number
was identified as the contact number for the Account. Based on
my review of records from a cellphone service provider, I know
that phone number is subscribed to by “Konrad Bicher” (the
“Bicher Phone Number”). Based on my communications with the
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Case 1:22-cr-00589-LGS Document 1 Filed 06/27/22 Page 8 of 9
Building Managers, I know that at least two of the Building
Managers responsible for at least eight of the Lease Agreements
have contacted BICHER through the Bicher Phone Number.
12. Based on my review of records from Online Marketplace-
1 and the Bicher Accounts, I know that the Online Marketplace-1
User Accounts received at least $1,172,576.12 in income from
posting the Units for rent. Of that $1,172,576.12, at least
$436,100.59 was sent to the Bicher Accounts.
13. Based on my review of records from Online Marketplace-
2, I know the following:
a. Unit-3 was advertised for rent by a particular
user account on Online Marketplace-2 (the “Online Marketplace-2
Account”). The Lease Agreement for Unit-3 included a provision
prohibiting the lessee from renting the Unit to third parties on
a short-term basis.
b. The Online Marketplace-2 Account is held in the
name of “Konrad Bicher.” The Bicher Phone Number is listed as
the phone number for the Online Marketplace-2 Account and, on at
least 30 occasions, the Online Marketplace-2 Account instructed
prospective renters to contact the Bicher Phone Number to
discuss arrangements for the rental.
14. Based on my review of records from Online Marketplace-
2 and the Accounts, I know that the address associated with the
Online Marketplace-2 Account is an address which was submitted
in connection with the opening of a credit card in the name of
“Konrad Aaron Bicher” at a particular bank (“Bank-1”).
15. Based on information obtained from Online Marketplace-
2, I know that the electronic servers utilized by Online
Marketplace-2 are not located in the state of New York.
Furthermore, based on my review of records from Online
Marketplace-2 and records from Bank-1, I understand that, on or
about March 11, 2020, KONRAD BICHER, the defendant, opened a
Bank Account at Bank-1 in the name of a particular company, and
signed the account opening documents as “Member” of the company
at a branch of Bank-1 located in Manhattan. On that same day,
BICHER communicated with prospective renters of Unit-3 through
Online Marketplace-2’s internal messaging platform.
16. On or about March 21, 2022, the Building Manager for
Unit-3 sued KONRAD BICHER, the defendant, Individual-2, and the
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Case 1:22-cr-00589-LGS Document 1 Filed 06/27/22 Page 9 of 9
other individual with the last name “Bicher” who was added to
the Lease Agreement for Unit-3 in the Supreme Court of the State
of New York. On that same day, there were multiple news
articles published about an individual named “Konrad Bicher” who
rented apartment units in New York City, failed to make
necessary rental payments for those units, and made money by
renting those units on Online Marketplace-1. Those articles
included photographs of KONRAD BICHER, the defendant, and quotes
attributed to BICHER. Based on my review of records from Online
Marketplace-2, I know that, on or about March 21, 2022, that is,
on or about the same day that the lawsuit was initiated and the
news articles were published, an individual using the name
“Konrad” contacted Online Marketplace-2 and requested that the
Online Marketplace-2 Account be deleted.
WHEREFORE, I respectfully request that a warrant be issued
for the arrest of KONRAD BICHER, the defendant, and that he be
arrested, and imprisoned or bailed, as the case may be.
_______________________________________
/s/ Zachary Effting, with permission by SDA
Special Agent Zachary Effting
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Sworn to me through the transmission of this
Affidavit by reliable electronic means,
pursuant to Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
41(d)(3) and 4.1 this 27th
___ day of June, 2022
__________________________________
THE HONORABLE STEWART D. AARON
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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