A Nanuet landlord is accused of stealing nearly $7,000 from two tenants by taking tax refund checks from their mailbox and paying a tenant at a Pennsylvania property to cash the checks, according to Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe.
Syed Bokhari, 55, of 8 Amarillo Drive, Nanuet, is charged with third-degree grand larceny and faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. Zugibe said that in addition to paying the renter in Hazleton, PA, $500 to cash the checks, he told that renter he wanted the checks cashed in Pennsylvania so he could hide the money from his wife.
Bokhari rented an apartment in his home to a married couple. Zugibe said Bokhari is accused of stealing a federal tax refund check and a New York State tax refund check totaling $6,922 from the couple’s mailbox. He’s accused of transporting the checks to Pennsylvania so the Hazleton tenant could obtain cash.
Bokhari’s arrest came after a joint investigation by the Rockland County Special Investigations Unit and the United States Postal Inspection Service. He was arraigned in Clarkstown Town Court by Judge Scott Ugell and released pending a June 6 hearing.
