N.Y. AG Accuses Brooklyn Condo Developer Of Ignoring Subpoena

The state Attorney General's Office is investigating two Brooklyn developers over allegations of misappropriating funds and failing to comply with condo conversion laws, and it is getting tired of being stonewalled.

Barry Leon, the business partner of Louis Greco, has failed to turn over documents and provide testimony in the case, according to a petition filed by Letitia James’ office on Wednesday. The New York Office of the Attorney General is probing the developers over their conversion of 475 Washington Ave., a six-story residential building in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill, into condominiums.

The OAG served an initial subpoena to Leon on Feb. 1, 2024. More than two years later, Leon still hasn't responded to the state's chief legal officer’s requests, despite speaking to officials over the phone several times, according to the petition.

Neither Greco nor Leon immediately responded to Bisnow’s requests for comment.

Leon is the managing member of ABL Venture Capital Group, the president of Statement Services and a certified public accountant, according to court records. He and Greco, the founder of Second Development Services, first submitted an offering plan for 475 Washington to the OAG in 2018, disclosing plans to convert the rental building into 60 condos. Buyers started closing on units in 2021. 

Under New York City law, sponsors must establish a reserve fund for capital repairs, which is overseen by the condo board. However, the developers didn’t turn over control. Instead, in an offering plan amendment filed in 2023, it was revealed that Leon improperly invested money from the fund in his other businesses, according to the OAG.

In addition to the fund mismanagement, the OAG is examining allegations that the developers failed to file necessary disclosures, pay common charges and real estate taxes on unsold units, and routinely inspect the building’s facade. 

The investigation also includes claims that the duo didn't abide by all laws in the conversion process, including those surrounding rent-regulated leases and tenant buyouts. 

This is far from the first time that Leon has been accused of dodging court orders. 

Leon has been named as a defendant in more than 20 lawsuits, according to a complaint filed against him by his brother and six of his nieces and nephews. In that case, the group alleges that Leon has failed to provide business records for projects that they each have financial stakes in.

They also accuse Leon of making fraudulent transfers to himself to avoid paying debts. At 475 Washington, the project at the heart of the OAG's investigation, the developers were foreclosed on following a $35M loan default.

Leon has disobeyed court orders and has been jailed for contempt of court, according to the family members’ complaint, first filed in 2024. 

A judge ordered Leon to give his family access to his books, but they claim he has not provided all of the required information. In a proposed supplemental complaint, also filed on Wednesday, the group is asking that the court appoint a temporary receiver over his businesses. 

Greco, who has been involved in more than 100 developments across the city, has similarly been caught in the crosshairs of dozens of lawsuits, brought by buyers, partners and contractors, a Bisnow investigation found. Last year, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

Unlike his business partner, Greco has participated in the OAG’s investigation. He provided sworn testimony last year and turned over some, but not all, documents that attorneys were seeking. He joined the project as a sponsor in 2021 and was unable to answer “numerous questions” as a result, according to the petition. 

Among the documents that the OAG is requesting from Leon are bank statements, invoices and communications with Greco and Shahn Andersen.

A 2025 lawsuit against Greco over a payment dispute includes Andersen as a defendant. Andersen’s company, SCA Properties, previously managed 475 Washington, according to the complaint. Andersen couldn’t be reached for comment.

If the OAG's petition is approved, Leon would have 10 days to produce all the demanded documents and appear for questioning within 20. 

The filing is the AG’s first public acknowledgment of the case, though Bisnow reported that the building was the subject of an active investigation in June.