Two Long Island brothers and a New Jersey man have been charged with breaking into a Jamaica Estates residence in April, changing the locks and refusing to allow the true homeowners to enter the premises until they transferred the deed of the house to the suspects, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Brandon Sestoso, 33, his brother Chas Sestoso, 31, and Jesse Kusinow, 32, have been arraigned and charged with varying degrees of burglary, grand larceny, criminal trespass, unlawful eviction, and criminal mischief.
According to city Department of Correction records, Brandon Sestoso and Kusinow have not posted bail, while Chas Sestoso was released on $10,000 bail.
According to the charges, the homeowner’s wife left her Grand Central Parkway residence on the morning of April 29, 2015, and when she returned that evening she discovered that the locks on her residence had been changed and the three suspects inside. The defendants allegedly informed her that they were working with the bank that held the mortgage on the property and that she could not gain access to the property unless she signed documents pertaining to the house.
The homeowner’s wife informed the defendants that her husband was the sole property owner and that he was in China, they had her call him. They allegedly told him that if he and his wife wanted to gain access to their house, he would have to sign some documents, which they emailed to him—including a deed transfer for the property. Although the husband allegedly signed and emailed several of the documents back to the defendants, he did not sign or send the deed transfer.
The following day, the defendants allegedly gave the homeowner’s wife 10 minutes to retrieve belongings from the 1st-floor of the house. When she entered the residences, she allegedly observed that the interior of her home had been ransacked and that property was missing, including jewelry, knives, cash and the deed and documents related to the ownership of the home.
