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$100 Million Mortgage Fraudster Tried to Have Witness Murdered, DA Says

By DNAinfo Staff on October 7, 2011 1:25pm

Aaron Hand was indicted on charges he tried to kill a former colleague who testified against him at his mortgage fraud trial.
Aaron Hand was indicted on charges he tried to kill a former colleague who testified against him at his mortgage fraud trial.
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MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A fraudster convicted in a $100 million mortgage scam tried to have a witness who testified against him killed for a bargain-basement price by duping his family and friends into paying for a hit man who was actually an undercover cop, authorities said. 

In a twist, Aaron Hand, 39, of Long Island, allegedly told his loved ones that he needed $2,000 in order to bribe a correction officer to get better placement at Coxsackie Correctional Facility upstate.

Prosecutors said that in August Hand, who is serving an 8 1/2 to 25-year prison sentence, ordered the hit against the witness, who was also part of the mortgage scam and pleaded guilty.

Hand allegedly dictated how the deed was to be done in a series of recorded, profanity-laced jailhouse phone calls after his conviction on corruption and grand larceny charges in July 2010.

"No body, no crime, you know. You leave a body, you've got a crime," he allegedly told the undercover investigator. "I wish I was there to see his f---ing face — watch him suffer.

"Run upstairs, downstairs, get it — just hit the road. No samples…no DNA; wear gloves, wear something over your head," he continued. "You know, no trace of nothing…clean, you know if you can limit…you know, blood in the house."

Hand allegedly arranged meetings between an associate of his and the undercover officer at a gas station on the Long Island Expressway and at a Manhattan diner on Sept. 10 to fork over a $150 payment on the $2,000 job, prosecutors said. 

At his arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday, Hand's attorney, Kevin Canfield, said that his client was being entrapped by the police, calling it "ridiculous" that Hand could have hired a killer for such a small amount of money. 

"This man was entrapped by the authorities. He never wanted to hurt anyone, to kill anyone. It was all set up by the New York City Police Department, the District Attorney's office and State Corrections officials all working pad and glove."

But prosecutors said the plot was very real to Hand and that he did everything possible to arrange for the witness's murder.

“The motive for this attempted murder was revenge, plain and simple,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement.

“There is a misperception that white collar criminals cannot also be violent criminals — but they can be."

Hand and 26 others were convicted or pleaded guilty in connection to defrauding banks out of $100 million between 2005 and 2007 through a company he founded, AFG Financial Group.

He was ordered held without bail at his attempted murder arraignment Thursday.