Illegally renting subleased apartments as hotel rooms is nothing new, but Raziel Ofer, who "controlled hundreds of units at swanky uptown addresses" (at Woogo.com), was caught by Manhattan prosecutors because he never paid over $1 million in sales tax to the city and state. D'oh! He also apparently "evaded up to $2 million in other fees"; Ofer pleaded guilty and now faces between 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison. Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau groused, "Illegal hotels are getting to be a major problem."





Has anyone else noticed every few stories on Gothamist is different, with a smaller all-caps headline? Does anyone else think it's weird?
No. It's called artistic license by the authors.
What kind of name is Raziel Ofer? It's not Afro American or Dutch. What is it?
Its Israeli...to no surprise.
LOL. No surprise at all...