Crime & Safety

Woman Scored Luxury Apartments For Gang Members Across NYC: Feds

Latoya Williams used stolen identities to line up high-end apartments for gang members before her arrest Wednesday, authorities said.

An Upper West Side woman was arrested Wednesday on accusations she used stolen identities to line up luxury stash houses for gang members.
An Upper West Side woman was arrested Wednesday on accusations she used stolen identities to line up luxury stash houses for gang members. (Renee Schiavone/Patch)

NEW YORK CITY — Luxury apartments across New York City became stash houses for gang members with the help of a woman who used fake IDs to lock down high-end rentals, federal authorities said.

The woman — Latoya Williams — was arrested Wednesday inside her high-end Upper West Side apartment, authorities said.

Agents found several hundred thousand dollars in cash inside Williams' 61st Street apartment, a law enforcement source said.

Find out what's happening in New York Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Williams faces arraignment on a federal identity theft charge outlined in a nine-page criminal indictment unsealed Wednesday.

"Principally, Williams has used forged identification documents, paystubs, tax documents, and other falsified paperwork to obtain property rentals and utility services in high-end apartment buildings in and around New York City," the complaint states.

Find out what's happening in New York Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The case against Williams began with an FBI investigation into violent gangs in Brooklyn and Queens, according to the complaint.

In February 2021, agents searched the phone of Makk Balla Brims gang associate who had been gunned down in Queens, documents states. The phone had a number saved under the name "Toya Apartments," the complaint states.

Another search of a Yonkers apartment linked to the Wood City street gang also turned up the same phone number on a rental application, according to the complaint.

The Yonkers apartment and several others were rented in the name of a woman who "had not, in fact, rented or authorized anyone to rent in her name," the complaint states. Another woman's name was linked to luxury apartments in Bushwick and Williamsburg, and she too said she never lived there.

Both women were the victims of identity theft that put them on the hook for unpaid rent, according to the complaint.

"The investigation has shown that apartments rented by Williams consistently have unpaid or underpaid rent, past-due balances, and other uncollected fees," the complaint states. "This has resulted, among other things, in lawsuits and debt collections being initiated against victims of identity theft in order to collect money owed for apartments leased fraudulently in their names."

And it appears gang members used at least one Brooklyn apartment to stash guns, according to the complaint.

Authorities found five guns inside the apartment when they arrested Wood City gang members inside it, the complaint states.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.