Pol's shady moneyman a 'loan' wolf
Mortgage 'fraud' suit
By ISABEL VINCENT and MELISSA KLEIN
Last Updated: 9:17 AM, July 18, 2010
Posted: 3:09 AM, July 18, 2010
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The mysterious benefactor of embattled Queens Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks is a scandal-scarred real-estate agent and importer under fire for alleged fraud.
Edul Ahmad, who gave Meeks $40,000 in 2007, has been called "untrustworthy" by state authorities and is being sued for predatory lending, The Post has learned.
He's a longtime friend of both Meeks and state Sen. John Sampson. Meeks and Ahmad used to hold after-hours meetings in the congressman's office, according to an ex-staffer.
Although Ahmad has long been known in his community, he landed in the national spotlight last month when Meeks disclosed for the first time what he termed a "loan" from the businessman.
FRIENDLY FIRE: Rep. Gregory Meeks (pictured) and Sen. John Sampson are both longtime friends of Queens businessman Edul Ahmad (top right) -- who is being sued for predatory lending by two men he allegedly roped into an "excessively priced" mortgage. Ahmad lent Meeks $40,000 in 2007.
The congressman, who had not paid a cent on the loan in three years, said he paid back the advance in June with compounded interest of 12.5 percent.
Meeks is already under federal investigation for his role in a Queens charity with questionable spending.
Now Ahmad is being sued by two Queens brothers, immigrants from Bangladesh, who accuse him of predatory lending and fraud.
The men say they contacted Ahmad in 2006 about two neighboring homes for sale in Queens but claim he falsely told them that only one was available and that another buyer was ready to snatch it up, according to court papers.
Ahmad "demanded" a $20,000 deposit and told the men they had to close on the three-family property, built by Ahmad's brother, within a week.
They were also told that they had to use Ahmad's in-house mortgage broker and were advised against using their own lawyer, court papers say.
The men claim they realized too late that "they had been induced into an excessively priced mortgage."
The suit alleges that the buyers' incomes were falsified to make it appear as if they could afford the loan and that they were required to take out a mortgage for the entire $880,000 purchase price.
The suit charges that Ahmad, his companies and his brother "specifically prey on immigrants from the South Asian community."
Ahmad's criminal-defense lawyer, Steven Kartagener, would not comment on the suit.
Ahmad's real-estate license was suspended for two months in 2008 after New York's Department of State accused him of improperly sending a solicitation to a Queens couple on a cease-and-desist list that forbids real-estate agencies from asking for their business.
Ahmad, 43, immigrated to the United States from Guyana in 1983 and earned a bachelor's degree from Baruch College in 1988.
He started his company, the Ahmad Group, in 1993, according to the company's Web site.
His diverse business interests include Century 21 Ahmad Realty, a mortgage brokerage and a catering hall in Richmond Hill. He also sells tubs and lighting fixtures through a firm called Wholesale Building Supplies and runs South American rice paddies through Pure Rice Manufacture.
Ahmad lives the high life in a McMansion in South Ozone Park. His fleet of cars over the last few years has included a 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo -- with a base price of $165,000 -- a 2003 Mercedes SL500R roadster and a succession of Range Rovers.
Yet, Ahmad cried poverty in legal papers filed in 2008 as part of the license-suspension case.
He claimed that even before the case began -- around the same period he gave the $40,000 to Meeks -- his business was "struggling because of the real-estate crisis and the economy."
Edul Ahmad
Age: 43
Born: Guyana; immigrated to the US in 1983
Education: B.S., Baruch College, 1988
Home: South Ozone Park
Married: Bibi Ahmad
Businesses: The Ahmad Group — Century 21 Ahmad Realty, Ace Mortgage Inc., Chateau Royale catering hall, Citywide Holding Inc., South America Woods, Pure Rice Manufacture, Cancept Clothing, Wholesale Building Supplies, Ed Ahmad Cup. Inc. (cricket)
Associates: State Sen. John Sampson, US Rep. Gregory Meeks, Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo
Lawsuits: July 8, 2010, suit alleges predatory lending and real-estate fraud, 2009 foreclosure action on Jamaica home
Additional reporting by Kathianne Boniello
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/l...H6nSgK#ixzz1T3yOuxZR