The self-described “Wolf of Airbnb,” who masterminded an illegal multi-million dollar subletting fraud scheme, was told what had happened to him in a Manhattan federal court on Monday. Shocking text messages revealed he planned to “rape every landlord in New York City.”
Prosecutors say Konrad Bircher, 32, of Hialeah, Florida, defrauded both New York City landlords and a federal pandemic relief program by raking in more than $1.1 million from his illegal “mini-hotels” from July 2019 through April 2022.
Court documents show he abused COVID-era tenant protections to prevent landlords from evicting him while he rented out their properties.
At the same time, he received more than $565,000 through the federal government’s Payment Protection Program, a pandemic relief program designed to help small businesses.
Bircher will now spend four years and three months behind bars and another three years of supervised release for the scheme, a federal judge ruled Monday.
Konrad Bircher, 32, of Hialeah, Florida, was sentenced Monday to more than four years in prison
He had already served 20 years in prison, but last year he pleaded guilty to a charge of wire fraud. This was reported by Bloomberg.
Bircher was also ordered to forfeit $1.7 million and pay another $2.2 million in restitution.
Prosecutors had sought a stiff sentence, saying he ran at least 18 Manhattan apartments as so-called “mini-hotels” and used the pandemic as an excuse to pay landlords less than $1 million in rent.
They pointed to texts Bircher had sent to friends and colleagues about the plan, including one dated April 20, 2020, in which he wrote: “Now I’m going bad, mate,” the sentencing order said.
In another text he wrote that he would “rape every landlord in New York” and in a third he wrote that “every landlord is going to be fucked now.”
He used the MiMa building, at 450 West 42nd Street, for short-term rentals
One of the buildings Bircher used for short-term stays through Airbnb was the MiMa building at 450 West 42nd Street. Units there sell for between $1.5 million and $6.5 million. Monthly rents range from $4,000 to $10,000.
However, Bircher rented the apartments for $97 an hour, in violation of a New York City law that makes it illegal to rent an entire apartment for less than 30 days without the owner or permanent tenant present.
Prosecutors say his “modus operandi is to either sign leases for apartments in Manhattan or, as in this case, force his way into the tenants’ homes and conduct some sort of ‘break-out operation.'”
“This includes renting out the apartment as a profit source through Airbnb, Peerspace and other similar short-term rental platforms, not paying rent, using the pandemic and related laws to delay proceedings, and leaving the apartment at the point of eviction.”
Prosecutors say he refused to leave the rental properties even after his lease expired, even though he was living in Florida at the time.
Meanwhile, he has been flaunting his newfound wealth on social media, sharing photos of himself enjoying private jet flights and lavish vacations.
He also began bragging to his friends that he was the “Wolf of Airbnb,” an homage to Jordan Belfort, who was known as the “Wolf of Wall Street.”
In a text to The Real DealBircher spoke about giving himself the dubious moniker, saying, “The Wolf of Airbnb: It means someone who is hungry and ruthless enough to get to the top of the financial ladder. They compare the ferocity to that of a wolf, because wolves are territorial and vicious and show no mercy when provoked.”
Bircher flaunted his wealth on social media, sharing photos of him enjoying private jet flights and extravagant vacations
“The defendant sees this as an opportunity to enrich himself,” Assistant District Attorney Matthew Weinberg argued in court Monday.
“It is very insulting.”
Prosecutors also noted that Bircher fought landlord lawsuits by falsely claiming he was suffering from COVID-related issues and lying about his residency.
He even had two previous convictions, including an arrest in 2015 for posing as a landlord to get paid rent he wasn’t owed, according to the New York Post.
However, his lawyers argued for leniency, blaming landlords for a number of problems with Manhattan apartments.
They argued that many landlords knew what he was doing but still approached him when they struggled to find tenants during the pandemic.
The defense also pointed out that Bircher has a six-month-old daughter and is a homemaker.
After the sentencing, prosecutor Damian Williams noted that Bircher liked the nickname “wolf.”
“But as today’s ruling underscores, those guilty of such callous and fraudulent behavior will have to answer for their crimes, regardless of the title they have given themselves.”