Jury Gets Case of Developer Accused of Defrauding Relatives

By LAURA D’ANGELO & ZINA PASCHAL

The lengthy trial for the alleged Ponzi scheme mastermind who was accused of robbing his family and investors of almost $5 million for real estate projects went into jury deliberation on Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.

“His house of cards came crashing down,” said Assistant DA Sarah Sacks in her closing statement depicting the defendant Robert Cassandro’s failure to keep up with his alleged scheming.

Cassandro needed more money to keep the alleged scheme going but when his family members wouldn’t come across the scheme came to light, the prosecution told the jury of six men and six women. He even got more than what was necessary to pay for the alleged real-estate projects.

Cassandro received money from his father-in-law Jerry Perelmutter and Jamie Sadock, among others promising that they would be sole investors in real estate projects and that their loans were secured.

Defense attorneys Peter Tomao and Edward Mandery called Perelmutter, a star prosecution witness “a ruthless person with a thirst for vengeance” but Sacks said the jury should see “people who were mad about their money being taken.”

“Jerry is a victim, and this man is a con man,” said Sacks.

According to authorities the defendant is being accused of using the money to pay his mortgage, credit card bills, and to support his lush lifestyle and country club bills. The prosecutor added that records existed showing where the money went, so the jurors “certainly don’t have to rely on testimony.”

“Every document in charts is backed by a document evident in this case either from an independent source like bank records, or emails, all from the defendant himself,” said Sacks.

Sacks depicted Cassandro had every intention to rob these people out of their money as he typed up statements of where the money would be going when he proposed the projects to the investors. The scheme was not a mistake because ‘to act intentionally means to do what you mean to do.’

Sacks also reminded the jury that ‘the defendant used home building projects as a front for stealing people’s money’ which is the reason why they were ‘here, not vengeance.’

The defendant wore a black suit and remained face forward during the closing arguments and jury deliberation. Cassandro is being charged with grand larceny in the first degree and scheme to defraud in the first degree and can face up to 25 years in prison if found guilty. Family members were present but the defendant’s mother declined to speak to reporters.