Upper East developer Penny Bradley found guilty of mortgage fraud

Real estate developer Penny Bradley was convicted by a New York jury of forging signatures on loan documents and stealing money from investors that was supposed to go toward the restoration of an Upper East Side townhouse.

Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg alleged Bradley used the forged signatures to obtain a $11.5 million loan for a 7,400 square-foot townhouse at 46 East 82nd Street. The D.A. also alleged she stole about $500,000 from an investor on a second townhouse renovation.

“Penny Bradley not only stole more than $750,000 from investors, she forged their signatures to obtain an $11.5 million loan in an attempt to cover up the theft,” said District Attorney Bragg in a statement. “In order to perpetuate her fraud and continue to live beyond her means, she also stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from a second company that invested in her supposed townhouse renovations. 

The Manhattan D.A. alleges investor funds instead went to her personal bank account. She used funds for personal expenses, including a trip to the Ritz Carlton in Puerto Rico and ski vacations in Utah and Montana. Other money went to a restaurant she owned and payments for a loan on her Range Rover. 

Bradley’s troubles date back to at least 2014. She acquired the townhome on 82nd Street for $8.8 million and pitched it to investors as a renovation project.

She solicited money from a few small-time investors and obtained two loans from Alpine Capital Bank. 

A year later, she took out a separate $2.6 million loan from lender Global Payment Services to pay off a personal debt. She defaulted on the loan and allowed GPS to put a lien on the townhouse. Bradley never told her investors about that loan.

In 2016, Bradley tried to refinance the GPS loan with a new mortgage from Atlas Union Corp. In order to obtain the loan, Atlas and the title insurance company required an operating agreement signed by all investors. Bradley lied to her investors about the purpose of the loan, but still failed to obtain the required signatures, according to the D.A.

Instead, Bradley forged signatures. In September, she sent over signature pages to the lender with at least two forged signatures to close the $11.5 million loan, according to the D.A.

Bradley received offers for the townhouse, but never sold it. Atlas eventually initiated a foreclosure on the property, alleging Bradley was in default. Bradley filed personal bankruptcy in 2018, halting the foreclosure for years. 

The D.A. alleged that Bradley misled investors on another project as well. Bradley allegedly made false statements about the status of another townhouse project at East 62nd Street to solicit a $500,000 investment from a Chilean company. She used the money for personal expenditures.

Bradley was convicted of residential mortgage fraud in the first degree, two counts of grand larceny in the second degree, and two counts of criminal possession of a forged Instrument in the second degree. She is set to be sentenced in June 2024. 

Bradley’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment.

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