Eli Puretz Sentenced to Prison for Mortgage Scheme

A federal judge in New Jersey sentenced Chaim “Eli” Puretz to 24 months in prison for his role in a multi-million mortgage fraud scheme.

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U.S. District Court Judge Robert Kirsch cited that Puretz should be “treated very differently from his co-conspirator father,” and called the younger Puretz a “novice swimming in a shark’s pool.”

The judge also considered what Puretz’s attorney described as a childhood marked by neglect and abuse, and that he struggled with several unaddressed mental health issues, including obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, depression and a learning disability. 

The sentence was short of the maximum sentence of five years in prison. The judge also permitted Puretz to self surrender on before July 1, to give him time to help his family.

Ahead of the sentencing, Puretz read a prepared speech, his voice breaking with emotion at times. 

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“I’ve committed an egregious criminal act,” he said. “I look in the mirror and I don’t recognize who I am today.”

He expressed regret about bringing shame to his family, including his children and wife. The couple also have a baby due in May.

Puretz pleaded guilty in August to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, connected to a 2020 deal for an office building outside Detroit. 

Puretz, his father Aron Puretz and Boruch Drillman purchased Troy Technology Park, an office complex in Troy, Michigan, for $42.7 million in 2020. The trio, however, provided the lender with a bogus price of $70 million, which was used to obtain a larger loan of $45 million. A Lakewood, New Jersey-based title insurer, Riverside Abstract, handled closings for both the real price of the property and the inflated one. 

The case was part of a broadening crackdown against commercial mortgage fraud by the Department of Justice and the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

This month Kirsch sentenced Aron Puretz to five years in prison, citing what he called “a lack of full candor, cooperation, contriteness, and remorse.” He was also ordered to pay $22 million in restitution to his lenders.

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In an unusual move for someone awaiting sentencing on criminal charges, the younger Puretz spoke publicly about his case on Halacha Headlines, a podcast hosted by Lightstone Group’s David Lichtenstein. Puretz told Lichtenstein in November that he was “almost relieved” that he was charged in the Michigan deal, that the experience has changed him for the better. 

“If not for this, I probably would have found myself doing a lot worse,” he said on the podcast. “I’m sure that the consequences after would have been a whole lot worse as well.”

Before the sentencing, a dozen family members and friends gathered in a lobby outside the courtroom, some praying. Some walked up to hug Puretz’s wife, who was quietly crying. 

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