Who Bought South Blooming Grove Mayor George Kalaj’s Home?
Meet Fort Worth Holdings LLC and the company that loaned them $3.5 million
It’s Sunday, so we’re going to take some time today to research who Fort Worth Holding LLC are, why they purchased South Blooming Grove Mayor George Kalaj’s home for 890% higher than the property’s assed value, and what you can do about it.
Fort Wort Holding LLC is listed as being based at 13 Apple Hill Drive in Highland Mills.
According to the Orange County Office of Real Property, here’s the history of 13 Apple Hill Drive:
On May 8th, 2008, the land — along with 13 other parcels — was purchased for $1,860,000. The owner of the land was listed as “International, Innovative.” According to the Department of State Division of Corporations, the only active company today with that name Innovative International (DOS ID 6393713), was formed on February 2nd, 2022. That company’s given address is 130 Lee Avenue #520 in Brooklyn, 11211 130.
Another company, International Innovative Technologies Group (DOS ID #2017249) is listed as being based in Rockland County with the address of 140 S. Congress Avenue in Congers, NY, 10920, and was formed by Ray DiFalco in 1996.
More information is required to determine who purchased this land.
Regardless, two months after this initial purchase, on August 1st, 2008, the land and 9 additional parcels was sold to Lewis Donnelly Development for a $1.
Four days later, on August 5th, 2008, Lewis Donnelly Development, LLC was formed, with the DOS ID #3704677. The address provided was 9 West Main St, Suite 102, in Washingtonville, NY, 10992.
Lewis Donnelly Development, LLC was formed by Lewis J. Donnelly. Mr. Donnelly may also be the owner of The Broccoli Patch, Inc. (DOS ID 5171648). The provided address for The Broccoli Patch, Inc. is 555 Mount Airy Road, New Windsor, 12553.
Both the New Windsor address and the Washingtonville address appear in BeenVerified search results for Lewis J. Donnelly. The 555 Mount Airy Road address appears in a bankruptcy filing by Mr. Donnelly on August 1st, 2014 with the Case #1436580
In 2019, Mr. Donnelly was at the center of a controversial proposal for a whiskey distillery in Sugarloaf.
After the bankruptcy filing, Libertyville Capital Group seems to have acquired the property from Mr. Donnelly, but there’s no information available about this specific transaction.
On November 17th, 2015, Libertyville Capital Group sold the land for 13 Apple Hill Drive, and two parcels, to Goldstone Associates LLC for $375,000.
Goldstone was formed on July 7th, 2011. The DOS ID is 4115471. The address provided is 51 Forest Drive, Suite 316-150, Monroe, 10950.
Two days later on November 19th, 2015, Goldstone Associates LLC sold the land for 13 Apple Hill Drive to Independent Capital Solutions for $170,000.
Independent Capital Solutions was formed on January 11th, 2008. The DOS ID is 3616366. The address provided is 1 Mezabish Place, Suite 311, in Monroe, 10950. Independent Capital Solutions is listed as being owned by Mr. Martin Werzberger. He is the husband of Mrs. Hindy Werzberger.
According to Buzzfile, Independent Capital Solutions has five employees, and generates $164,209 in annual revenue. Mr. Werzberger is listed as the CEO.
On October 16th, 2017, Hindy Werzberger purchased a condominium at 9 Nicklesburg Road, Unit 101, in Monroe for $270,000.
On November 2nd, 2017 Independent Capital Solutions (Martin Werzberger) sold the 13 Apple Hill Drive home and property to his wife, Hindy Werzberger, for $170,000.
On March 29th, 2018 LoanDepot LLC provided a loan of $202,500 to Hindy Werzberger for the 9 Nicklesburg Road, Unit 101 property.
On June 12th, 2018, Citizens Bank provided a loan of $875,000 to Hindy Werzberger to refinance the home at 13 Apple Hill Drive.
On December 27th, 2018, Hindy Werzberger purchased 11 Apple Hill Drive for $135,000 from Mr. Moses Jacobowitz.
On January 10th, 2019, Hindy Werzberger purchased 3 Radomsk Way, Unit 101, in Monroe for $285,000 from Rifka Kraus.
In February of 2020, Hindy Werzberger purchased 9 Nickelsburg Road in Monroe, Unit 102, for $280,000 from The Walton Property Trust.
On October 19th, 2021, Martin Werzberger acquired 715 State Route 32 in Highland Mills, 10930, for $650,000 from Anthony Melville.
On December 27th, 2021, Citizens Bank provided a loan of $975,000 to Hindy Werzberger to again refinance 13 Apple Hill Drive.
Since 2017, according to Orange County records, 13 Apple Hill Drive is currently owned by Hindy Werzberger. According to Orange County, the full market value of the property and home was valued at $916,400 in 2023. According to BeenVerified, both Mr. Martin Werzberger and Mrs. Hindy Werzberger live at this home.
Fort Worth Holdings LLC was created on February 23rd, 2022 in New York State. It’s registered with the Department of State (DOS) ID of 6412247. The address registered to Fort Worth Holdings LLC is 13 Apple Hill Drive in Highland Mills, New York, 10930.
So, unless the home address is being used by another party to disguise their identity, it is possible to conclude that Forth Worth Holdings LLC is Mr. Martin and Mrs. Hindy Werzberger.
The Mayor’s House Turned Yeshiva
In the above video, you can see State Senator Skoufis detail the sketchy sale of South Blooming Grove Mayor George Kalaj’s home with Midhudson News. This video was recorded in March of 2023.
For 30 years, George Kalaj and family lived at 58 Fort Worth Place in Monroe. A business, Kalaj and Sons Inc. was also registered to this address. Kalaj and Sons Inc. was registered in New York State on February 23rd, 2001 with the DOS ID: #2609335.
The Mayor’s home, built in 1989, was assessed by Orange County in 2022 as being worth $464,300.00. The land surrounding the property was assessed in 2023 as being worth $50,000, with a total assessment provided as $281,700.
Three months after Hindy Werzberger refinanced 13 Apple Hill Drive with Citizens Bank for $975,000, Mayor George Kalaj sold 58 Fort Worth Place for what the senator said was 890% its purchase price.
The sale occurred on March 7th, 2022. One week prior to Kalaj being re-elected to a second term as Mayor of South Blooming Grove in March of 2022,
Kalaj had previously tried to sell his home prior to being elected mayor in 2020. He took the home off the market in September of 2020.
The sale between George Kalaj and Fort Worth Holdings LLC was for $4.6 million.
If you deduct the $975,000, that leaves us with $3,625,000
On November 22nd, 2022, Golden Bridge LLC provided a loan to Forth Worth Holdings LLC for $3.5M to refinance (?) the Mayor’s former home at 58 Fort Worth Place. Golden Bridge LLC is also known as Golden Bridge Funding LLC
Golden Bridge describes themselves on their website as:
“Golden Bridge Funding is the first regulated private direct lender from Israel. We provide time sensitive bridge financing to real estate investors in New York City to fund almost any transaction of non-owner occupied commercial or residential. In a volatile market a lack of liquidity in the credit market and increased regulation of the banking industry has restricted conventional financing as an option for investors in a fast moving competitive real estate market. “
According to The KJ Weekly and Times Herald Record, the purchase price for Kalaj’s home may be much higher, with $7.5M referred to as a “down payment.” The THR suggested this meant the property might have been resold; however Orange County does not have any data to suggest Fort Worth Holdings LLC re-sold the property. The money, according to The KJ Weekly came from “Kiryas Joel philanthropists delivered donations and loans of $7.5 million towards a down payment on the property at the time of closing.”
Note: The KJ Weekly, like other official publications found in Haredi communities, usually require approval by representatives of the Rebbe or other religious leaders before publication. So, it’s entirely possible the $7.5M and the claim that the money came from “philanthropists” could be true. But it’s also possible that this is just the official line to cover up potential financial irregularities in the purchase of the mayor’s home.
According to The KJ Weekly, the Kalaj home and property may become home to Sheri Torah, a yeshiva administered by Moshe Ostreicher. It’s important to note here that the Haredi in the Satmar community are divided between two different religious leaders. The Brooklyn based Rabbi Zalman Teitelbaum, and the Kiryas Joel based Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum. Sheri Torah falls under the purview of Zalman Teitelbaum, while Aaron operates the United Talmudical Academy. (UTA was recently in the news for failure to comply with the state’s COVID vaccination requirements.)
The Teitelbaum family, as detailed in the book “A Fortress In Brooklyn” by Nathaniel Deutsch and Michael Casper, are politically very powerful. And although the Satmar Haredi are increasingly voting for, and supporting far right candidates like Donald Trump, they still hold a lot of power in New York’s state Democratic party.
The Yeshivas are the main vehicle for how the Teitelbaum family re-enforce control over their community. In this instance, by teaching Teitelbaum’s extremist interpretation of the Torah. (Part 2 of that article can be found here.)
Those positions among the Satmar in the Haredi community include not supporting Israel or even recognizing its existence, and wanting to kick the Gazans out of Gaza. Both positions are worth noting given current world events.
This is especially true for Democrats in New York State who profess their support for the state of Israel while also providing cover to some members of the Satmar community to act in unlawful ways that violate the due process owed to South Blooming Grove residents under the 14th Amendment.
So, What Can You Do?
In February of 2023, State Senator James Skoufis asked AG Letitia James to investigate the purchase of Kalaj’s home by Forth Worth Holdings LLC.
The Senator noted, in addition to the incredible markup on the house’s value, that $2.9 million dollars went unaccounted for. Suggesting that either Kalaj pocketed the money, or that the property was immediately resold.
Much like with Keen Equities LLC, the government needed to intervene in order to stop an unapproved road from being built after clear cutting of land owned by Orange County began following the sale of Kalaj’s home in or around October of 2022. After being told that the county did not support construction of the new road, work began anyway. This is something we’ll revisit later this week in discussing the activity of the South Blooming Grove village government.
According to an affidavit by Travis Edward, Orange County deputy commissioner of public work, who visited the site on December 6th, 2022:
"When we arrived, we observed enormous amounts of underwood, timber and trees that were cut, removed and/or destroyed for approximately 0.2 miles … and that there was grading and construction of what appeared to be an intended roadway,” according to the affidavit. "Beyond the cleared area, there was a large swath of land being used to store construction equipment."
According to the Times Herald Record, “The affidavit said it was clear the destruction of trees and land was "done knowingly and purposefully by and/or at the direction of the Defendant Village of South Blooming Grove despite the County denying their request." [Emphasis Added]
The AG did not respond to the senator’s letter. Worth remembering for when the AG is up for re-election in 2026.
A year later, her office did not reply to multiple requests for comment by The Monroe Gazette to follow up on the senator’s letter.
But that’s ok. Because there are organizations on the federal level that would be VERY interested to hear about the loan from Golden Bridge LLC to Fort Worth Holdings LLC and the transaction involving the Mayor’s home:
The FBI & The US Department of Treasury.
So, coming soon, I will have specific steps to follow if you’d like to reach out to either department. It has to be done in a very specific manner, and I spent most of my time getting all this information above together for you today.
Not enough time to coordinate the best way to reach out to them and whom to contact so your emails and calls don’t vanish into a blackhole.
I’ll have more information for you soon, but if you want to do something in the interim, you can call: (202) 225-5614. That is Congressman Pat Ryan’s Washington D.C. office, which is the only office with the power to do much of anything.
Call and ask that Congressman Ryan pushes the FBI to investigate the purchase of the mayor’s home.
You can use the following as a script if you call
(Once someone answers)
Hello, Congressman Ryan represents my district, and I’m calling to report a possible crime involving money laundering and bribing an elected official.
Who can I talk to at your office about this?
(Get that person’s name, phone number, and email. Then, when they ask for details …)
At the end of February 2022, a company called Fort Worth Holdings LLC was created. A week later, Fort Worth Holdings purchased the home of South Blooming Grove Mayor, George Kalaj. Mayor Kalaj’s home was valued at $464,300.00 by Orange County. The home was purchased for at least $4.6M, but potentially for as much as $7.5M. This purchase took place just prior to the village election, in which Mayor Kalaj ran unopposed for a second term. Later that year, an Israeli company known as Golden Bridge LLC loaned Fort Worth Holdings LLC $3.5M, potentially covering nearly the entire reported purchase price of Mayor Kalaj’s home.
Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of my state senate representative, James Skoufis, the New York Attorney General has refused requests to investigate.
I’m deeply concerned about the nature of this transaction as I believe a crime may have been committed.
This November will be a tight race for re-election for the Congressman, and his response to this matter will dictate how I vote.
(when you’re done chatting)
Thank you for hearing my concerns. I can be reached at (contact info). Please do follow-up with me.
***
Something I hear often is that there’s “nothing you can do” about this. But. This is not true.
Remember: Shalom Lamm went to jail.