Konrad Bicher — Indictment (Wire Fraud), Southern District of New York

Summary

Indictment in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, United States of America v. Konrad Bicher, charging wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Count One alleges that from February 2019 to April 2022 Bicher entered into at least 18 Lease Agreements for Units in Manhattan, failed to make more than $1,000,000 in payments and rented the Units on Airbnb and another marketplace for at least $1,170,000, while invoking pandemic tenant protections; he called himself the 'Wolf of Airbnb'. Count Two alleges that his companies, the Konrad Foundation LLC, NY Approved Rentals LLC and Luxe Vita Group LLC, obtained over $565,000 in PPP loans using a false 2019 tax return and Schedules C. Count Three charges use of the name of Accountant-1.

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

ee a ee x
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

INDICTMENT

22 Cr.

KONRAD BICHER,
Defendant. :
COUNT ONE

(Wire Fraud)
The Grand Jury charges:

The Rental Property Scheme

1. From at least in or about February 2019, up to and
including at least April 2022, KONRAD BICHER, the defendant,
engaged in a scheme to defraud landlords of various apartment
units (the “Units”) at residential buildings in Manhattan by
entering into lease agreements (the “Lease Agreements”) to rent
the Units with no intention of abiding by the terms of the Lease
Agreements, including the prohibition on renting the Units on a
short-term basis and the obligation to make rental payments.

2. Specifically, 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. The Lease Agreements.required the

lessee to make monthly rental payments. The Lease Agreements
also included either 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.

3. 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
been vacated, BICHER derived income by renting the Units on a
short-term basis, including by posting the Units for rent on
various online marketplaces, including Airbnb, Inc. (“Airbnb”) .

4, Between in or about July 2019 and in or about April
2022, KONRAD BICHER, the defendant, and his associates, failed
to make 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 the estimated fair market value
for the Units. During this period, BICHER caused the Units to
be listed for short-term rent on Airbnb and at least one other
online marketplace for short-term rentals, resulting in at least
$1,170,000 in rental income to BICHER and his associates.

5. Throughout the course of this scheme, the lessors of

2
the Units made numerous efforts to recover rental payments from
KONRAD BICHER, the defendant, and/or to stop BICHER from
continuing to rent the Units on a short-term basis, including by
initiating civil litigation against BICHER. Despite these
efforts, BICHER continued to rent certain of the Units on a
short-term basis. At the same time BICHER generated revenue
from renting the Units, he hid behind rules designed to protect
tenants during the Covid-19 pandemic, and claimed that he could
not make monthly rental payments during the pandemic.

6. During the course of the scheme, KONRAD BICHER, the
defendant, 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” and had the “ferocity..of a wolf, because
wolves are territorial, vicious and show no mercy when
provoked.”

STATUTORY ALLEGATIONS

7. 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, 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, 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 for Units in apartment buildings in
Manhattan with the intent to violate the Lease Agreements by
failing to make required monthly rental payments and posting the
Units for short term rental on Airbnb and at least one other
online marketplace.

(Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343 and 2.)

COUNT TWO
(Wire Fraud)

The Grand Jury further charges:

The Paycheck Protection Program Loan Scheme

8. From at least in or about April 2021 until in or about
July 2021, KONRAD. BICHER, the defendant, engaged in a scheme to
obtain Government-guaranteed loans through a loan program of the
United States Small Business Administration (“SBA”) designed to
provide relief to small businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic,
namely the Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP”).

9. In furtherance of this scheme, between in or about
April 2021 and in or about July 2021, at least three companies
controlled by KONRAD BICHER, the defendant, specifically, the
Konrad Foundation LLC (the “Konrad Foundation”), NY Approved

Rentals LLC (“NY Approved Rentals”), and Luxe Vita Group LLC
(“Luxe Vita”), submitted at least four applications for PPP
loans (the “PPP Applications”) to a particular lender (“Lender-
1”), and obtained over $565,000 in loan proceeds.

10. The PPP Applications submitted by KONRAD BICHER, the
defendant, contained fraudulent documents and false information.
For example, in connection with the PPP Application for NY
Approved Rentals, and in response to the request of Lender-1 to
submit a copy of the company’s 2019 income tax return, BICHER
submitted a 2019 tax return which was purportedly filed with the
Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) by NY Approved Rentals and
identified “gross receipts” of $1,200,000 (the “Purported NY
Approved Rentals Tax Return”). The Purported NY Approved
Rentals Tax Return was signed by a particular accountant
(“Accountant-1”) located in the state of Florida. However, in
truth and fact, NY Approved Rentals did not file a tax return of
any kind in 2019, and BICHER only asked Accountant-1 to prepare
a tax return for NY Approved Rentals after Lender-1 requested a
copy of the tax return. After BICHER obtained a draft tax
return for NY Approved Rentals from Accountant-l, he submitted
it to Lender-1 for purposes of obtaining the PPP loan, but did
not file it with the IRS.

11. Similarly, in connection with the PPP Applications
submitted by the Konrad Foundation and Luxe Vita, KONRAD BICHER,

the defendant, submitted purported copies of 2019 IRS Schedules
C for each company, each of which identified “gross receipts or
sales” of exactly $1,220,400. In truth and fact, the Schedules
C submitted with the PPP Applications for those companies were
not actually filed or otherwise reported to the IRS and the
“gross receipts or sales” listed thereon were not otherwise
reported to the IRS by BICHER.

12. The loan proceeds obtained by the companies controlled
by KONRAD BICHER, the defendant, pursuant to the PPP, were not
used for lawful purposes. Instead, BICHER used the proceeds for
his own personal benefit, including by transferring funds to
bank accounts held in his name and withdrawing cash.

STATUTORY ALLEGATIONS

13. From at least in or about April 2021 through at least
in or about July 2021, in the Southern District of New York and
elsewhere, KONARD BICHER, the defendant, 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, 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 engaged in
a scheme to obtain Government-guaranteed loans by means of false

and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and documents, for
companies controlled by BICHER, through a loan program of the
SBA designed to provide relief to small businesses during the
COVID-19 pandemic, namely the PPP.

(Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343 and 2.)

COUNT THREE
(Aggravated Identity Theft)

The Grand Jury further charges:

14. The allegations contained in paragraphs 8 through 12
of this Indictment are repeated and realleged as if fully set
forth herein. |

15. In or about April 2021, in the Southern District of
New York and elsewhere, KONRAD BICHER, the defendant, knowingly
did transfer, possess, and use, without lawful authority, a
means of identification of another person, during and in
relation to a felony violation enumerated in Title 18, United
States Code, Section 1028A(c), to wit, BICHER used the name of
Accountant-1 in connection with a fraudulent loan application
made to Lender-1 during and in relation to the fraud charged in
Count Two of this Indictment.

(Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a) (1), 1028A(b),
and 2.)

FORFEITURE ALLEGATION

16. As a result of committing the offenses alleged in
Counts One and Two of this Indictment, KONRAD BICHER, the

defendant, shall forfeit to the United States, pursuant to Title
18, United States Code, Section 981 (a) (1) (C), and Title 28,
United States Code, Section 2461(c), any and all property, real
and personal, that constitutes or is derived from proceeds
traceable to the commission of said offenses, including but not
limited to a sum of money in United States currency representing
the amount of proceeds traceable to the commission of said
offenses.

Substitute Asset Provision

17. If any of the above-described forfeitable property, as
a result of any act or omission of the defendant:
a. cannot be located upon the exercise of due
diligence;
b. has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with,

a third party;

on has been placed beyond the jurisdiction of the
court;

d. has been substantially diminished in value; or

e. has been commingled with other property which

cannot be divided without difficulty; it is the intent of the
United States, pursuant to Title 21, United States Code, Section

853(p), to seek forfeiture of any other property of the defendant
up to the value of the forfeitable property described above.

(Title 18, United States Code, Sections 981 and 982;
Title 21, United States Code, Section 853;
Title 28, United States Code, Section 2461.)

DAMIAN WLLLIAMS
United States Attorney
Form No. USA-33s-274 (Ed. 9-25-58)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
KONRAD BICHER,

Defendant.

INDICTMENT
22 Cr.
(18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 1028A.)

DAMIAN WILLIAMS

United States Attorney

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