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A New Jersey man has been charged for allegedly misappropriating renter funds that were supposed to be paid for utility services at four Indianapolis apartment complexes, the office of Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced Monday.
Chaim Puretz, 47, was charged with corrupt business influence (a level 5 felony), three counts of theft (level 5 felonies), seven counts of theft (level 6 felonies) and two counts of Class A misdemeanor theft.
The charges are related to a high-profile case in which the landlord of the four affordable apartment properties collected money from tenants but failed to pay Citizens Energy Group for services from October 2019 to April 2022.
The properties were Woods at Oak Crossing at 3120 Nobscot Drive, Covington Square at 115 S. High School Road, Berkley Commons at 8201 Madison Ave., and Capital Place at 4100 Continental Court. The apartment complexes were all built in the 1960s or 1970s and have a total of more than 1,400 units.
After Citizens disconnected utility service at Berkley Commons and Capital Place in February 2022, the city of Indianapolis stepped in the next day to pay $850,000 in utility charges to restore service, and it began seeking a solution to address landlord problems at the complexes.
According to the prosecutor’s office, a two-year investigation by detectives assigned to the grand jury division of the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office determined that Puretz was the common signatory on various accounts associated with owner of the apartment complexes.
Investigators say Puretz wired apartment complex funds totaling about $1.6 million to bank accounts he owned or jointly owned instead of paying utility bills.
“Innocent Hoosiers suffered due to the alleged acts of the defendant,” Mears said in a written statement. “We will not tolerate those who financially exploit members of our community. I commend our dedicated investigators for their diligent work throughout this lengthy process.”
In April 2022, Citizens filed lawsuits against Berkley Commons IN LLC and JPC Affordable Housing Foundation Inc. over more than $1.3 million in unpaid utility bills at three of the four apartment complexes.
The city also filed a lawsuit the same month seeking to claw back its $850,000 from what it called “bad actor landlords.” Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office also filed suit seeking to dissolve JPC Affordable, appoint receivers for its properties, permanently remove its board of directors and appoint interim leaders.
In September 2022, Citizens announced an agreement with landlord JPC Affordable Housing in which JPC agreed to sell its properties by the end of 2022. Berkley Commons was sold in December 2022 and the other three complexes were acquired in January 2023. New management was brought in to oversee the properties.
“In 2022, the city stepped in to pay $850,000 in water charges at several affordable housing properties, avoiding the mass eviction of hundreds of Indianapolis families,” Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said in written remarks. “Families that had kept current with rent payments that included utilities had their lives thrown into upheaval through no fault of their own. I am grateful to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office for the extensive legal work involved to bring today’s criminal charges. Let this serve as a warning to anyone who would threaten the homes of our most vulnerable neighbors: Your day in court is coming.”
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Diligent work that only took two years to bring charges? Has the city gotten its money back? This sounds like more foot dragging by Mears to me.
Prosecutor can only do what state law allows him…. Which is basically nothing when it comes to punishing landlords