Fifth Ave Pipe Feud Erupts Into Fraud Furor, Lawsuit Claims
Residents sue co-op over alleged forged audits and unresolved plumbing dispute seeking damages.Summary
The lawsuit stems from a long-running plumbing dispute at 907 Fifth Avenue, a prewar cooperative on the Upper East Side. Plaintiffs Angelo Chan and Frederick Wertheim allege that the co-op board failed to provide audited financial statements since 2020 and instead supplied documents bearing forged Marks Paneth letterhead and signatures. They also claim legal fees were improperly listed as negligible and that they have lacked running water in two bathrooms due to an unresolved renovation conflict. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, a forensic accounting, and a rollback of board actions related to the alleged fraudulent records. CBIZ, which acquired Marks Paneth in 2022, is noted as not having issued the disputed reports. The case is pending in New York County Supreme Court, with future focus on document production and shareholders' access to co-op records.
(Source：Hoodline)