Judge unloads on Lakewood investor Aron Puretz at sentencing

A federal judge in New Jersey threw the book at Lakewood real estate investor Aron Puretz.

U.S. District Court Robert Kirsh sentenced Aron Puretz to 60 months in prison and ordered him to pay $22 million in restitution to his lenders. Puretz engaged in a $55 million, multi-year conspiracy to defraud financial institutions, which involved inflating property values through fake documents. He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud this summer. 

Kirsh did not hold back at Puretz during the recent sentencing hearing. The judge commented on Puretz’s lack of empathy for his victims, which included the lenders.

“I am deeply troubled by his conduct which, in my judgment, frankly, is representative really of a lack of full candor, cooperation, contriteness, and remorse,” said Kirsh.

Puretz’s lawyer Steven Yurowitz tried to paint Puretz as a charitable man. He noted that Puretz invited needy individuals to stay in his Lakewood mansion and helped people pay their medical bills. 

“But it’s easy to be generous and allow somebody to use a room in your 11-bedroom home, with 13 bathrooms, when you’ve committed fraud of this magnitude,” Kirsh said. 

The federal judge was particularly upset with Puretz’s failure to provide information about his finances and assets.

“I really have no information,” said Kirsh. “I know he lives in a beautiful home, and he reported that he makes $15,000 a month. I know his wife is retired. There’s no indication whether she gets a pension. I don’t know. There were no individual or corporate tax returns provided.”

Puretz claimed to have purchased his 11-bedroom home for a modest $500,000 in 2018.

The sentencing was seen as a bellwether for Puretz’s co-conspirators, including his son Eli Puretz, who have been charged by the Department of Justice and the Federal Housing Finance Agency in its widening crackdown on commercial mortgage fraud. 

“In my judgment, an unmistakable message has to be made, putting folks on notice, that law enforcement will be vigilant, and if you get exposed, there is a consequence, and a severe one,” said Judge Kirsh.

Puretz was involved in three schemes, according to prosecutors. In the most notable one, Puretz and his co-conspirators allegedly acquired an office complex in Troy, Michigan, for $43 million, but presented the lender with a fraudulent sales contract for $70 million. The inflated sales price induced the lender to make a larger loan than it otherwise would have made. Puretz’s son also pleaded guilty for his involvement in this scheme.

In another scheme in Eureka, Illinois, Puretz acquired a rental property, Maple Lawn, for $4.1 million. Puretz and his co-conspirators presented a lender and Freddie Mac a fake sales contract for $5.8 million. 

The Puretz family owns over 16,000 units of low-income housing nationwide, according to a report from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Many of those buildings are in disrepair and tenants have complained about deplorable living conditions.

More details emerged about the reclusive Aron Puretz during the hearing. 

Puretz’s father was a real estate developer. One of seven children, Aron has no high school degree or GED, but studied in a yeshiva.

Two of Puretz’s sons are in real estate, including Eli Puretz. He has one son who is a yeshiva student in Lakewood and another studying in Israel. 

Puretz claimed in his probation report that he was an alcoholic and drank heavily for decades. He said he drank a handle of Johnny Walker every day. The judge didn’t buy it. 

“That can kill a horse. That’s a half a gallon of whiskey a day,” said Kirsh. “It defies any degree of common sense that if an individual is plagued to that extent over decades, somehow, some way, there would be corroboration for this, other than self-assertion and self-interest.”

At the end of the hearing, Puretz was detained by the U.S. Marshalls. His attorney asked if Puretz could see his mother and turn himself in later, but the judge denied it, claiming Puretz posed a significant flight risk.

“I am mindful of the heartache that this will cause a 79-year-old mom, and that’s heartbreaking,” said Kirsh. “But this, in my judgment, is not a close call.”