May 17, 2016 Staff Report
The owner of two Woodside real estate firms was arrested yesterday for allegedly bilking clients out of their security deposits, agent fees and rental payments on unavailable apartments.
Rosita Tsiklauri, a 47-year-old College Point resident, operated Supreme Realty and Fast Solutions Realty out of 47-20 48th Ave. where she allegedly duped 19 prospective tenants between November 2014 and October 2015 out of $77,000, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Her realty firm allegedly collected deposits, fees and rental payments on apartments that were not available. In the cases where refunds were paid, the checks either bounced or her bank account was frozen.
Tskilauri was arrested at JFK Airport after arriving on a flight from Ukraine.
“This case sadly represents an all too common scenario in which an allegedly greedy realtor is accused of taking advantage of Queens County’s tight housing market to rob unsuspecting individuals,” Brown said. “For many of the victims, the loss is doubly troubling in that they lost their money and were still without a place in which to live.”
Tsiklauri was arraigned Monday before Queens Criminal Court Judge Althea Drysdale on a criminal complaint charging her with second-degree criminal possession of stolen property, third- and fourth-degree grand larceny, first-degree scheme to defraud and issuing a bad check.
Tsiklauri faces up to fifteen years in prison if convicted and has been forced to surrender her U.S. passport.
Brown said that the matter was brought to the attention of his office by several of the prospective tenants and that anyone who believes that he or she may have been a victim of the defendant’s alleged scheme should contact his Economics Crimes Bureau at 1-718-286-6673.
Brown said that many of the prospective tenants learned of apartments through online ads or advertisements in local periodicals.
In one instance, Tsiklauri showed the same apartment on 77th Street in Jackson Heights to two prospective tenants – one in June 2015 and the other in July 2015.
Tsiklauri allegedly informed the first prospective tenant that the rent on the apartment was $2,500 a month and that she required $5,000 to cover the security deposit and agency fee.
The victim went to Fast Solutions Realty’s 48th Avenue office and allegedly gave Tsiklauri $5,000 in cash, tax information, pay stubs, a reference and signed a rental lease for the apartment. Tsiklauri allegedly told the victim she could move into the apartment between August 1 and August 15, 2015. However, it is alleged that the victim was never given access to the apartment after paying the deposit and fee and she was told by Tsiklauri that the apartment was no longer available to rent. Tsiklauri allegedly never provided the victim with a refund of the monies she paid to her.
In the second instance, Tsiklauri allegedly told the prospective tenant that the rent on the 77th Street apartment was $2,400 a month and that she required $4,800 to cover the security deposit and the agency fee.
As in the other case, the victim allegedly went to Fast Solutions Realty’s offices and gave Tsiklauri $4,800 in cash and signed a rental lease for the apartment with a move-in date at the beginning of August 2015. Similarly, the victim was allegedly told by Tsiklauri that the apartment was no longer available to rent and Tsiklauri allegedly kept the money that the victim had given her.
Tsiklauri was ordered to return to court on May 31, 2016.
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10 Comments
Fred nerd don’t feel sorry for me, I’m moving somewhere it’s safe, and reasonably priced. I feel sorry for you because you think it’s ok to live in an overpriced, unsafe, slum. And I’m ignorant? You probably never lived anywhere nice, and anyone who calls themselves nerd must be a person we all feel sorry for. Good luck in your unsafe slum
Scared in the south side. I feel sorry for you.not because you’re scared but because your ignorant.
I agree, the southside is really bad, moving as soon as possible. 46th ,47th,49thst between greenpoint and 50 ave are really the worst. Its like a slum as described above.i live on 45st by queens midtown service road which is quiet but i get off the 7 at 40st,instead of 46st because it’s safer down that way. The thugs and dealers that hang on 46 by the apartment building is very dangerous at night. I’m afraid I’m going to get robbed so id rather walk then get killed, or have to put up with the abuse as im an attractive female. Southside is like a 3rd world country. Can’t believe all the illegal apartments, and the prices they charge. I’d rather stay on North side if im going to pay premium price. 1 bedroom should only be 1200-1500, not 2grand. Theres a landlord renting her illegal apartment in the basesment for 1200, its a fire trap. Im getting out of here. Who wants to live here it’s like living in a war zone
You hear about this happening more and more , either people are just taking stupid pills or maybe it’s minorities that don’t speak English well or don’t have papers and are just happy to have someone who will work with them. Southside is shady. I cant believe the prices of houses and apartments in that slum area. Plus real estate agents are snakes, be careful
she’ll be living in a two bed cell in prison
what fool gives cash transactions these days? might as well give me free money too!
If she has a us passport thst makes her a citizen. Cant be deported
Maybe she has a 2 bdrm unit in Ukraine for @mac & @sunnysideresident. These 2 tools deserve each other, as long as it’s in any other neighborhood.
Unclear if this person actually owns any property, but if so it should be seized and regardless they should be deported immediately. How about just never let them come back instead of wasting 15 years worth of tax payer money on someone already so eager to take money for doing nothing.
Weird, she doesn’t even seem to have a real estate license (for NYS anyway).
I wonder why she came back to the US?