A budding rental shark who calls himself the “Airbnb Wolf” was charged with a scheme to illegally sublet more than a dozen apartments in Manhattan while he refused to pay rent, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Florida resident Konrad Bicher, 31, fraudulently obtained more than $565,000 in COVID-19 relief funds – even though he claimed he couldn’t pay landlords because of the pandemic, according to the ‘indictment.
During that time, Bicher listed the units on sites like Airbnb and operated them as “mini-hotels,” Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said.
“Bicher abused government programs and tenant protections intended to benefit New Yorkers in crisis, and he will be held accountable for his conduct,” Williams said in a statement.
Bicher and his associates allegedly rented at least 18 properties in the Big Apple starting in February 2019 and then listed them as short-term rentals — in violation of contracts and New York law, prosecutors say.
Even as the self-proclaimed “wolf” raked in the dough listing units — including for film crews at a $97-an-hour clip — he blamed the pandemic for not being able to meet the terms of his lease, prosecutors alleged.
When the leases expired, he refused to vacate and even continued to sublet the properties, which was explicitly prohibited in the leases, according to the complaint. He didn’t pay at least $1 million between 2019 and April 2022 based on fair market value, even though he earned more than $1.1 million in income from the properties, prosecutors say.
It is illegal to offer comparable units for rent in the city for less than 30 days, according to municipal law.
In the spring of 2021, Bicher made at least four claims through the federal Payment Protection Program and fraudulently received $565,000, prosecutors said.
Bicher, who was known for flaunting a luxurious lifestyle and private jet travel on his social media accounts, told the Real Deal in February he came up with his nickname because it means “someone who is hungry and ruthless enough to climb to the top of the financial ladder”.
“They compare ferocity to that of a wolf, because wolves are territorial, vicious and show no mercy when provoked,” he wrote in a text.
In a lawsuit earlier this year, a landlord claimed that Bicher was illegally subletting a unit at ritzy 450 W. 42nd Street. A doorman reportedly noticed people coming and going with suitcases and camera gear, and officials said he listed the unit for $97 an hour on Peerspace.
When served with a cease and desist, he reportedly replied, “Can we work out a settlement agreement to pay me to leave? Otherwise, I will keep the unit for years and I will plead.
Bicher, who was slapped with two counts of federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, faces up to 42 years in prison if convicted.
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