14 THE QUEENS COURIER • DECEMBER 17, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Forest Hills co-op residents rally against board president
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Some residents of the Gardens of Forest
Hills Owners Corp. (GFH), a housing
cooperative in the neighborhood, led a
street protest on Sunday, Dec. 6, against
board president Belal Mohd, a real estate
broker, for overcharging shareholders.
About 25 protesters were at 66th
Road near the Grand Central
Parkway for the demonstration, during
which residents said that for
more than a decade, shareholders
of GFH have served as sources of
income for Mohd, who along with
his Superior Service Realty LLC,
have sold more than 100
apartments from the co-op,
which were discovered in
litigation documents.
During his tenure, 22
co-op owned rent stabilized
apartments
were sold for about $5
million with about
$920,000 wiped off to
somewhere that the
board has not provided
any records of.
Lily Liang, who was elected
as a board member of the
co-op last year, said what has
happened in the co-op is the
“most absurd thing” she has ever seen.
“As a board director, I repeatedly
requested the board to examine the
records of the whereabouts of the wipeoff
,” Liang said. “Th e money belonged to
300 households. Th ere must be accountability
here. But I was simply ignored by
Mohd and his pals on the board.”
According to Liang, for years, shareholders
could not have a fair election.
Video was taken of Mohd inspecting election
proxies in favor of his opponents,
which was posted on YouTube. Since it
was a civil off ense, nothing happened.
In last year’s election, Cesarano & Khan
PC, an accounting fi rm hired by the
board disqualifi ed 35 proxies for “signature
issues” and refused to disclose the
names of the shareholders they disenfranchised,
Liang said.It resulted in only two
opposition leaders to the board with fi ve
incumbents.
“Mohd still controls the board. In a
country of democracy, voting is people’s
sacred rights. But again, under state law,
disenfranchisement in a co-op election
is a civil wrong,” Liang said. “Th ere is no
punishment for doing that but a huge cost
for the grieved party to prove the wrong.”
In response to the YouTube video,
Mohd told QNS that he was actually submitting
his proxy to the inspector.
“Th is is a video from years ago,” Mohd
said. “It doesn’t matter what is published,
they will twist it and become very creative
saying, ‘Th is is a bad guy, don’t vote
for him.’ Th ey want to kick me out so they
can control the group.”
Th e constant irregularities of the co-op
elections have led to some shareholders
that have been arbitrarily charged penalties
of up to tens of thousands of dollars,
Liang said. Once an apartment carries
such a penalty,
it becomes
very diffi cult
to sell.
L e n n a
D’ S o u z a ,
69, a shareholder
of the
Gardens at Forest
Hills Owners Corp.,
said she tried to sell
her apartment to a relative,
but the co-op offi ce onsite refused to
sign a bank questionnaire for her buyer,
and didn’t give her a reason as to why they
couldn’t do it.
“Since then, I have been in mental
anguish. I don’t want to hire a broker
to sell my apartment because my little
money is for my healthcare,” D’Souza
said. “I have been a taxpayer for decades,
but when I need government protection,
there is none. I am calling for the authorities
to look into my situation and help
the helpless.”
Another shareholder, Naresh Patel, said
he has been accused by Mohd of illegal
subletting, despite the fact that he and his
wife invested in a unit and provided written
permission from the previous board.
As a result, his maintenance account has
been charged various fees up to hundreds
of thousands of dollars, he said.
“I didn’t realize why such harsh treatment
until an ex-shareholder said she was
charged $10,000 because a relative lived
in her apartment, and she ended up hiring
Mr. Mohd’s real estate fi rm and sold
her apartment,” Patel said.
According to Patel, in 2017, one week
aft er the co-op opposition group — to
which his brother belongs and is second
in leadership — made it clear that they
were going to run for the co-op election,
he had received a notice asking him to
“cure” a renovation of the investment unit
that was completed a half year ago. Th e
unit was then sent to an auction.
As of today, Patel said his maintenance
bill shows a balance of $272,000, which is
more than the apartment’s worth.
In 2016, Rohit Shah, who is also a shareholder
of GFH, was moving out to live
at his daughter’s house, and Mohd had
off ered to rent out his apartment. He had
agreed, but later changed his mind and
decided to hire an agent.
Shah was then charged a $2,000 illegal
sublet fee for not having board approval.
In his affi davit, Shah said, “In my decadelong
living at the co-op, I have never
received a notice about policies on subletting
an apartment.”
In September 2019, he was charged
again, this time for $500, without any
written explanation.
“To not jeopardize my ongoing application
to sublet my apartment, I paid the
penalty,” Shah said.
When asked about the shareholders’
statements, Mohd said the group is trying
to use the media to infl uence their pending
court case and the next election.
“Th ey’re trying to start something and
some of them don’t even live in the co-op,”
Mohd said. “Th ere’s been a lot of intimidation,
harassment and attacks against
me. Th ese are investors who owe a lot of
money to the co-op and they’re spreading
false lies and propaganda.”
According to Mohd, the group is hurting
the co-op, where 368 families currently
reside and more than 90 percent
of the shareholders are peaceful and pay
their bills.
“It’s the people who don’t want to pay
their bills and take over the co-op. I know
some of them hate me, and it’s very upsetting
and hurtful,” Mohd said. “I’m a realty
broker by profession and you want to hurt
me, but you’re also hurting innocent people
who won’t be able to buy, sell or rent
because of the name. Everything is posted
online and people tend to believe it. Th ey
were happy it would ruin my profession.”
Th e shareholders have reported to law
enforcement, but nothing has been done
to protect them, they said.
Aft er fi ling a lawsuit twice at the
Supreme Court of Queens and spending
three years and tens of thousands of dollars
drawn from their retirement funds,
the cases were consecutively dismissed
for procedure issues such as being late to
fi le affi davits.
Th ough the lawsuits were dismissed,
Mohd said it had impacted the business,
calling it an embarrassment.
“If I’m the bad guy, why does the co-op
have to give you $10 million?” Mohd said.
Photos by Gabriele Holtermann
“We suff ered a lot and it doesn’t matter
who won the lawsuit, the banks would
turn them down,” Mohd said. “It aff ects
the people who live here and quality of
life. Who wants to live here when people
are using the media?”
According to Liang, the New York
Co-op shareholders are severely disadvantaged
in fi ghting against board corruptions.
“Th e NY Business Corporation Laws
(721-724) entitle board co-op money for
lawyer fees in civil and criminal cases.
Skilled lawyers can turn such litigation
into a game of who has money, and who
wins,” Liang said. “Lawyers representing
the GFH board requested to depose each
of the 12 suing plaintiff s ‘day to day,’ setting
up a huge fi nancial hurdle for the
plaintiff s to overcome while the board
didn’t have to pay a penny out of their
own pockets.”
Aft er spending $210,000 of co-op
money on legal fees, Liang said, Mohd
and his associates, without a word to
opposition leaders on the board, began
charging shareholders assessments in
October when some had trouble paying
for food due to COVID.
“Shareholders at GFH wonder if Mohd
has ever been a legitimately elected president,
because all he did in court was
to fi ght fi ercely not to disclose original
votes,” Liang said.
Edwin Wong, president of the Forest
Hills Asian Association (FHAA) who
is running for in the District 29 City
Council race, suggested forming a coalition
not only with GFH, but also with
other co-ops in the area that may be
enduring a similar situation.
“Mr. Mohd, if you are hearing this message,
these are all shareholders,” Wong
said. “You and the rest of the board that
isn’t doing what’s right, I think, is going to
catch up with you. I think right now, the
best thing is for us to keep this awareness
of this group and other groups. And then,
from there, we’ll build a coalition and
more awareness.”
Th e group is asking grieving or concerned
New Yorkers to join them at
“NYC Co-op Shareholders” on Facebook,
or search “Lily Liang, New York” on
Facebook to communicate.
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