Couple ‘forged’ dead owner’s deed LI 'squat' a grave insult
A pair of brazen, Porsche-driving alleged squatters took over an abandoned Long Island home by presenting a judge with a fake lease forged with the dead owner’s signature, according to a court filing by concerned neighbors.
Denton Gayle and Margaret Grover told Nassau Housing Court Judge Christopher J. Coschignano they’d rented 39 Brussel Drive, which sits on a quiet block in wellheeled New Hyde Park, from owner Edward Iacono on June 1 for $1,500 a month, court records show.
They included a two-year lease agreement allegedly signed by Iacono, with a provision that they could become owners.
The couple, who share a baby boy and a pit bull named Daisy, complained to Coschignano that they’d begun renovating the property before the landlord removed them from the house “without any notice or reason,” a handwritten November court filing shows.
But owner Edward Iacono Sr. had been dead since 2016, the house in foreclosure since 2013 and empty for almost a decade.
In reality, the couple was arrested and tossed from the sevenroom Cape Cod in October after a 911 caller, concerned for the couple’s child, reported squalid conditions. The home had no heat, electricity, hot water or working bathrooms, according to a Town of North Hempstead building inspector’s report — which deemed the house “unlivable.”
The judge granted the couple’s request and ordered the Nassau County Police Department to help the pair move back in.
The dilapidated two-bath property is valued at nearly $900,000. Every member of Edward Iacono Sr.’s immediate family — wife Nora and their two sons, Kenneth and Edward Iacono Jr. — died between 2015 and 2018, according to neighbors and court papers.
‘Intimidation’ tactics
After they returned in January, Gayle, 29, was twice arrested for aggravated unlicensed operation after racking up nearly $3,000 worth of tickets on his black 2013 Porsche Cayenne, which has Pennsylvania license plates, records show.
Their return sparked further complaints, and neighbors claim Gayle has been trying to intimidate them.
They were caught on video at a longtime resident’s home after 9 p.m., with Gayle allegedly banging and kicking the door, spouting a racial slur and challenging him to come outside.
“We truly believe that these people are going to be vindictive,” said the resident, who claims a day or two later, Gayle came charging down the street toward him as he tried to get in his car.
He “came running down the block screaming, ‘Answer me, talk to me.’ I did not want to confront him,” said the man, who was too afraid to be publicly identified.
Gayle and Grover, 19, are facing charges of acting in a manner injurious to a child from their October arrest, and Gayle also faces resisting arrest and obstruction of governmental administration charges, records show. The cases are pending. Residents hired a lawyer who filed court papers alerting the judge to the alleged fraud. Coschignano didn’t return a call seeking comment.
“The judge screwed up and now we have to deal with the consequences,” another nervous neighbor told The Post, adding, “the Town of North Hempstead has been totally useless.”
North Hempstead has no authority to evict the squatters, especially after Coschignano’s order, officials said in a statement.
“The matter rests squarely between the [Iacono] estate, the bank, and the squatters with the fundamental problem being the judge’s granting of squatters’ rights based on fraudulent documents,” said town spokesman Umberto Mignardi, noting the town would be represented at an upcoming hearing in the case.
“They’re not squatters,” insisted lawyer William Igbokwe. “My clients did not commit or perpetrate any fraud. My clients leased a home from an individual who they understood to be Edward Iacono.”
The landlord didn’t come forward to clear up matters when the couple asked him to, Igbokwe said, adding, “They’ve never bothered anyone.” Gayle declined to comment. “Words are twisted when I speak. You can assume whatever you want,” Grover said.