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Read the press release here.

2 Men Boarded Up House and Forced Owner Out After Foreclosure Sale

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | April 9, 2015 12:23pm

QUEENS — Two Forest Hills men are accused of illegally evicting a Richmond Hill homeowner and boarding up the doors and windows of his house after saying they won the property in a foreclosure auction, the Queens District Attorney's office said.

Semyon (Sam) Muratov, 34, and Yuriy (Erick) Munarov, 31, were charged with burglary, criminal mischief, criminal trespass and unlawful eviction, the DA’s office said.

According to District Attorney Richard Brown, at a foreclosure sale held on Jan. 9, Muratov placed a down payment of $25,000 on a home located on 111th Street, near 107th Avenue.

The home was put up for auction by the mortgage-holder.

On the same day, even though the sale had not gone to closing yet, Muratov and Munarov went to the house and told the 59-year-old homeowner that they had bought the property and he had to move out.

They also demanded the keys and warned him that they would be back in a couple of days, officials said.

According to the DA’s office, Muratov would only get ownership of the house after a closing and a transfer of the deed. But even after a closing, he would have to go through an eviction proceeding, before forcing the homeowner out.

Defying the law, Muratov and Munarov returned to the house three days later, authorities said.

After the homeowner refused to let them in, they broke the lock and managed to get inside. They told the man that he had to leave the house and gave him $200 to find a place to stay, the DA’s office said.

The man took several documents, leaving other personal belongings behind, and left, officials said.

When he later returned to the house, according to the DA’s office, all the first-floor doors and windows had been boarded up and chains were placed around the front door.

“The defendants in this case are accused of taking the law into their own hands and bullying a homeowner into vacating his residence so that they would not have to deal with a housing court eviction proceeding,” Brown said in a statement.

The men’s lawyer, Sunil Agarwal, said that he believes “what happened is a grand misunderstanding.”

“But at this point I think you have to let the justice system proceed with the case,” he added. "I think there will be a disposition in their favor."

If convicted, Muratov and Munarov, who were arraigned Monday night, face up to 15 years in prison, the Queens DA’s office said.

They were ordered held on 2,500 bail and are due back in court on May 5.