The self-proclaimed “Wolf of Airbnb” who masterminded an illegal million-dollar subletting scheme met his fate in a Manhattan federal court on Monday, when explosive texts revealed how he planned to “rape every landlord in New York.”
Prosecutors have said Konrad Bircher, 32, of Hialeah, Florida, defrauded both New York City property owners and a federal government pandemic relief program by collecting more than $1.1 million from his illegal “mini-hotels” from July 2019 through April 2022.
He took advantage of COVID-era tenant protections to prevent landlords from evicting him, while renting out his properties, according to court documents.
At the same time, it collected more than $565,000 from the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program, a pandemic-era relief program designed to help small businesses.
Bircher will now spend four years and three months behind bars and another three years of supervised release under the plan, a federal judge ruled Monday.
Konrad Bircher, 32, of Hialeah, Florida, was sentenced Monday to serve more than four years in prison.
He had been in prison for 20 years, but last year pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. According to Bloomberg.
Bircher was also ordered to forfeit $1.7 million and pay another $2.2 million in restitution.
Prosecutors had pushed for a harsher sentence, arguing he operated at least 18 Manhattan apartments as so-called “mini-hotels” while using the pandemic as an excuse not to pay landlords more than $1 million in rent.
They pointed to texts Bircher had sent to friends and colleagues about the plan, including one from April 20, 2020, in which he wrote, “Now bro, I’m gonna turn evil,” according to the sentencing brief.
He added in another text that he would “rape all the homeowners in New York” and in a third he wrote that “now all the homeowners are going to be screwed.”
He used the MiMa building, at 450 West 42nd Street, for short-term rentals.
Among the buildings Bircher used for short-term Airbnb stays was the MiMa building at 450 West 42nd Street, where properties sell for between $1.5 million and $6.5 million and rents range from $4,000 to $10,000 a month.
But Bircher would rent the apartments for $97 an hour, contrary to a New York City law that makes it illegal to rent an entire apartment for less than 30 days without the owner or regular tenant present.
Prosecutors said their “modus operandi is to enter into leases for residential apartments in Manhattan or, as in this case, to work their way into occupancy and execute a type of ‘get-out’ operation.”
‘This includes renting out the apartment as a profit center through Airbnb, Peerspace and other similar platforms for short-term rentals, not paying rent, using the pandemic and related laws to delay any proceedings and vacating it to the point of being evicted.’
He refused to vacate the rented properties even after his lease expired, even though he was actually living in Florida at the time, according to prosecutors.
Meanwhile, he flaunted his newfound wealth on social media, sharing photos of himself enjoying private jet trips and lavish vacations.
He also began bragging to friends that he was the “Wolf of Airbnb,” a tribute to Jordan Belfort, known as the “Wolf of Wall Street.”
in a Text for The Real DealBircher referred to himself as the Airbnb Wolf, saying: “The Airbnb Wolf: It means someone who is hungry and ruthless enough to reach the top of the financial ladder. They compare their ferocity to that of a wolf, because wolves are territorial, fierce, and show no mercy when provoked.”
Bircher flaunted his wealth on social media, sharing photos of himself enjoying private jet trips and lavish vacations.
“The defendant sees this as an opportunity to enrich himself,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Weinberg argued in court Monday.
“It is deeply offensive.”
Prosecutors also said Bircher fought the landlords’ lawsuits by falsely claiming he was suffering from COVID-related hardships and lying about his residency.
He even had two prior convictions, including one in 2015 for impersonating a landlord to collect rent he had no right to collect. according to the New York Post.
But their lawyers had pleaded for leniency, blaming the landlords for some of the problems in the Manhattan apartments.
They argued that many of the landlords knew what he was doing but sought him out anyway when they struggled to find tenants during the pandemic.
The defense also mentioned that Bircher has a six-month-old daughter and a stay-at-home wife.
After the sentencing, federal prosecutor Damian Williams noted that Bircher liked the nickname “Wolf.”
“But as today’s sentence underscores, those who engage in such cruel and fraudulent conduct will be held accountable for their crimes, no matter what title they have given themselves.”