Disgraced real estate wunderkind Adam Hochfelder — former owner of the Conde Nast and Helmsley buildings — pleaded guilty to stealing some $20 million today, money taken largely through exaggerating his assets in taking loans from banks, friends and relatives.
Hochfelder, 38, will get four years prison when he is sentenced Sept. His victims included his uncle and the best man at his wedding. He has cooperated with the authorities and paid back $15 million, said defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo.
“In an odd turn, many of his victims have written letters to the court asking for leniency,” Agnifilo said.
Cocaine had been his downfall, his lawyers have said in previous court appearances; Hochfelder also blew the money to pay debts, send his two young sons to private school, fly in a private jet and take pricey trips.
Hochfelder’s plummet from grace was spectacular. Barely 30, his holdings then included the former Conde Nast building at Madison and 45th St, and Park Avenue’s ornate Helmsley Building, where he presided over his empire from Leona’s opulent former offices.