Monsey man admits to diverting $650,000 from investors

An Israeli man who also lives in Monsey has pled guilty to embezzling $650,000 from investors in Arizona real estate projects.

Eliezer Tilson, 37, of Netanya, Israel conceded that he used the U.S. Mail or foreign travel to commit crimes, in violation of the International Travel Act, Dec. 7 in U.S. District Court, White Plains.

“Mr. Tilson had a lapse in judgment,” defense attorney Mark E. Bini stated in an email. “He has elected to take full responsibility, foregoing his right to trial by jury, and is in the process of repaying the full amount of the loss.”

In 2019 Tilson solicited money for Domus Multifamily Real Estate Trust II for the construction of two apartment buildings near Phoenix.

Brooklyn lawyer Robert J. Tolchin and his colleague, Avi Leitner, had previously invested in two elder care projects promoted by Tilson, and at a dinner in Manhattan in 2019 he persuaded them to invest in Domus II.

Tilson instructed them to wire funds to Pancho Real Estate Capital LLP, a business he controlled in Union, New Jersey.

Instead of transferring the funds to Domus II, Tilson paid dividends to investors in unrelated real estate projects and paid down debts.

Tolchin contacted Robert Geringer, a Beverly Hills, California lawyer who managed Domus II, to inquire about the investments. Geringer said he had not received funds from Tilchon or Leitner.

When the Brooklyn investors confronted Tilson in November 2019, Tilson said “I assure you that the funds are definitely not floating anywhere” according to the charging document in the criminal case brought by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “We have the funds and you are very much part of the deal.”

Later, he said the money had not gone through yet because of a technical problem with his bank. Then he sent Tolchin a purported bank document that showed a balance of $837,56 in the Pancho Real Estate Capital account when, according to the charging document, the account was overdrawn.

In December 2019, when the Brooklyn investors asked where their money had gone, Tilson responded “I used it to bridge other things, and I was planning on money coming in right away to get you Domus.”

Tilson was arrested on July 24 and was released from custody on posting a $200,000 bond. He had to surrender his passport and restrict travel to the New York area but permitted to live with his mother-in-law in Washington State.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 3.

“He has learned from his mistake,” Bini said, “and looks forward to moving past it in a constructive fashion.”