There may finally be a legal resolution to the case of Casadei v. Skoog, which we first covered here at f/k/a in December of 2004, but which began in a musty basement of a historic house in Schenectady in October of 2003, with a handyman’s discovery of a Hefty bag that purportedly contained over $200,000 in cash. We dubbed it the Musty Money Mob caper, and have long been intrigued by the twisted and twisting tale of consumer folly, financial intrigue, greed, law enforcement incompetence, and lawyer over-reaching. Indeed, we called it “a ready-made, multi-subject law exam question for students, professors or lawyers wanting to show off their issue-spotting skills,” and added, “It’s a tale that leads one to ask: Is there intelligent life in this once prosperous home of Thomas Edison, GE, and legal giants?”
Interesting follow-up (Dec. 15, 2009): The Albany Times Union reports today, in an article headlined “Bank fraud counts filed: Owner of appraisal company allegedly had role in mortgage fraud” (Dec. 15, 2009, by Paul Nelson) that:
The owner of a Capital Region appraisal company facing federal bank fraud charges for his alleged role in a mortgage fraud and property-flipping scheme that authorities say reaped more than $200,000 over a three-year period says the accusations against him are a “mystery.”
The defendant in that indictment is said to be “Michael Cassadei.” Every indication is that he is the same person as the Michael Casadei discussed in this posting. (For example, when suing the County for return of his money, he spelled his named “Cassadei.” The AAA Allstate Appraisal firm is listed in an online directory as being located at 241 Union Street, the site of the Musty Money Caper. Also, both “Michael F. Casadei” and “Michael F. Cassadei” are listed as being from Schenectady and Saratoga County, and 53 years of age, by the online people-search firm Intellus.) The U.S. Attorney alleges that “the illegal business dealings lasted from December 1998 to January 2001. The money stashed in the wall of Casadei’s Stockade house was over $200k and went missing in 2004. (Also see the Schenectady Gazette article “Businessman indicted on fraud charges,” by Kathy Bowen, Dec. 15, 2009.)
By the way, in our research we found more Cassadei perfidy: See the 2005 decision of New York’s 3rd Dept. Appellate Division captioned Cassadei v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance (decided August 11, 2005, Dkt. 97628). In 1987, acting as “attorney in fact” for his mother, Cassadei signed over to himself a deed for his parents’ home on 4th St in Schenectady. That same year, his mother gave a deed to his sister for the property. A court later found Cassadei’s deed to himself to be a nullity (as the result of improper self-dealing) and declared his sister the owner. That did not stop Cassadei from filing and continuing a claim for water damage to the vacant house in 2000. The detailed and interesting 3rd Department appellate decision rejects Cassadei’s insurance claim with a lot more restraint than I would have mustered on that appeal panel.
Bank Fraud follow-up: According to the Schenectady Gazette,”Pair admit Capital Region mortgage scheme” (Feb. 18, 2010; subscription req’d), “Cassadei, 54, of Galway, and McIndoo, 53, of Watervliet, both pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud in U.S. District Court. Though both could face up to 30 years in jail, prosecutors are asking for Cassedei to receive a four-year sentence and McIndoo a three-year sentence.” Cassadei also faces a million dollar fine. The article explains how the complicated scheme worked.
In addition, Cassadei is at the center of a zoning board permit controversy at his place on Galway Lake. See the Albany Times Union article, “In Galway, politics and zoning collide; part-time building inspector fired” (Oct. 14, 2010).
Mortgage Scam Update: Mr. Cassadei/Casadei was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison on Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010. The judge used the sentencing guidelines in place at the time of the crime, not the current, harsher guidelines for white-collar crimes. Casadei’s lawyer, Donald Kinsella, argued that he has turned his life around with a home-heating fuel coop that helps people, and should merely get house arrest. See “Prison in mortgage scam,” Albany Times Union, Dec. 29, 2010). According to the Schenectady Gazette, on the courthouse steps his ex-girlfriend opined “He has no morals and he has no regrets.” (“Galway man gains fed term for bank scam,” Dec. 30, 2010).
[back to the original posting]
While listening to the 9 A.M. news on WAMC, my local npr station, I learned from their Roundtable newscaster — as amplified in today’s Albany Times Union — that:
“State Supreme Court Justice Vincent J. Reilly Jr. ruled in a written decision dated March 17 that the $177,700 in question does belong to Michael Casadei, owner of the home at 241 Union St. That’s where handyman Kevin Skoog says he found the money while doing work installing a security system in October 2003.”
See “Owner gets back hidden cash stash: Judge rules money found in home by handyman needs to be returned to resident” (by Lauren Stanforth, Albany Times Union, March 25, 2008); and “Judge: Money handyman took from basement belongs to homeowner” (Newsday, march 25, 2008).
The Schenectady Gazette reports: “Reilly noted Casadei testimony that he placed the cash there and Skoog did not have permission to remove it. “Under the circumstances, the cash cannot be considered lost or abandoned property which may be subject to the rights of the finders,’ Reilly wrote.” See “Owner wins cellar cash stash” (March 25, 2008) Skoog’s lawyer Paul Callahan is quoted saying he will ask Judge Reilly to reconsider the decision. Callahan asserts that the judge never considered his written argument.
Actually, even if Judge Reilly’s decision is not appealed, this may not be the final resolution, because Casadei — who has never quite explained where the money came from and why he did not initially contact the Schenectady Police Department over the theft — says there was as much as $210,000 in the bag, $48,500 of which Skoog had quickly spent, and another $32,300 is unaccounted for, but which he wants back from the ex-con handyman.
By the way, my first job after moving to Schenectady in 1988 was a temporary stint as law clerk to Judge Reilly, in Family Court. I’ve never discussed the case with the Judge, but never had much doubt that Mr. Skoog had no right to that money. Also, in my opinion, there is no chance that Judge Reilly failed to consider any pleading filed by Skoog’s lawyer.
The Roundtable‘s Joe Donahue asked the question that still bothers me this morning: Why would anyone hide $200,000 in hundred dollar bills in a basement (but leave it in a place where it could be found by a mysterious roving handyman)? Under the fold, I have reprinted our original 2004 posting about the Musty Money Mob, and I guarantee (your money back, of course) you’ll find it an interesting and fun story.
small talk
in the cellar
spring rain….. by Kobayashi ISSA, translated by David G. Lanoue
The Musty Money Mob — Skoog v. Casadei (Dec. 11, 2004)
An article that appeared today in my hometown Schenectady, NY, newspaper, is a ready-made, multi-subject law exam question for students, professors or lawyers wanting to show off their issue-spotting skills. It’s a tale that leads one to ask: “Is there intelligent life in this once prosperous home of Thomas Edison, GE, and legal giants?” (Daily Gazette, “$200K in cash found in wall has 3 claimants: Smelly money later buried in Tupperware,” by Stephen Cook, Dec. 11, 2004, p. A1, A8) [In a footnote dated March 25, 2008, Michael Casadei says that the correct caption is Casadei v. Skoog.]
You decide, while spotting issues of law, equity, ethics, etc. Here’s an outline of the facts (according to the newspaper account):
In October, 2003, home owner (and landlord, entrepeneur) Michael Casadei wanted a better security system for his residence, in the City’s Historic Stockade District. He gave the job to a man who called himself Kevin Graham, although “Graham” (who was later identified as Kevin Skoog) “could provide no references or other credentials” and said he had just arrived in town from North Carolina and “was down on his luck.”
As Skoog worked in the Casadei basement, “he came across some loose bricks, behind which he found a bag,” that Skoog recalls contained “stacks and stacks of hundred dollar bills” that smelled old and looked old.
Skoog says Casadei told him the house had once been the home of Marvin Friedman, who died more than a decade ago, and who was the “founder and former owner of the venerable Van Dyck Restaurant” [and jazz club], which is located next to the residence. Skoog insists Casadei confided that Friedman might have hidden money in the house.
Skoog concluded the money wasn’t Casadei’s, he told authorities, and decided it was his to take. According to the Gazette, because Casadei had only owned the house for four months, Skoog’s attorney Paul M. Callahan “questioned how the cash could get so smelly and musty in such a short period of time.”
Skoog is also quoted as feeling “blessed,” and “promptly went on a spending spree, buying a new motorcycle, a used SUV, another car, rings and other items.” Schenectady County Sheriff Harry Buffardi notes “He was spending like a drunken sailor.”
Casadei immediately realized the money was missing and hired a private investigator who learned “Graham”’s real identity. There was an outstanding warrant for Skoog in Monroe County, NY, for felony weapons possession (for which Skoog as since served one year). Casadei went to the Sheriff and gave him information that turned out to be correct as to the amount of money and who had it. Skoog was arrested, turned over about $20,000 hidden under a carpet in his apartment, and took the authorities to a tree in a nearby woods, where he had buried over $100,000 in $100 bills in Tupperware.
Casadei offered not to press charges if the money were returned, but Skoog claimed ownership and was charged with one count of second-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a felony. However, Skoog was not indicted within the required six months, and charges were dropped.
Buffardi, “with a total of $130,000 in smelly, musty $100 bills sitting around, deposited the money in the bank by summer” of 2004. Wanting his money back, Casadei sued in the local Supreme [trial] Court. “Apparently without a clear accounting of the bills, Friedman’s heirs and Skoog filed their own claims on the cash.”
As of Friday, Dec. 10, 2004, neither Sheriff Buffardi nor attorneys for the three parties believed that photographs of the bills existed.
But photos were discovered Friday afternoon as Buffardi went through the criminal file with a reporter.
“Thirteen stacks of cash are visible in the evidence photo. Twelve of them are topped with large, offset portraits of Benjamin Franklin, meaning that these ‘Benjamins’ were produced no earlier than 1996.
Counsel for the Friedman heirs, Albany attorney Harlan Harrison, expressed surprise when hearing about the existence of a photograph of the money, saying “If that’s true, that would be important.” He declined to discuss the implications.
Skoog’s attorney, Callahan, said the photo doesn’t explain who put the cash there or where it’s been since 1996. Callahan points to a case from the 1960s, where a plumber found $5000 behind a toilet in a home in Buffalo, NY, and the money was awarded to the plumber, not the homeowner.
Casadei’s attorney, Adam G. Parisi, says that case doesn’t apply and the photo negates the other claims to his client’s money, although a final resolution could take as long as a year. Casadei states that people “that don’t have any scruples . . . want to try and steal my money.”
The Gazette article notes:
The money, the 49-year-old Casadei said, is proceeds from his real estate work. It was there because of his aversion to banks, he said. He has since changed that practice.
Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said, Friday night, that questions about ownership of the money would have made for a difficult prosecution of Skoog. “It was muddled to say the least,” he added.
Sheriff Buffardi sums up “The whole thing is unusual, very unusual,” adding “It was a very difficult case to work. … The funny thing is, nobody’s happy about it.” A couple more points, in passing:
- The Gazette article makes no mention of the state or federal Internal Revenue Service.
- The Editor of this website lived on said block in the Stockade, near the Mohawk River, for more than a decade, and can attest that (1) parking is terrible, and (2) the basements in the homes on Union Street, many of which are well over 150 years old, are very damp and musty.
how delightful–
my damp, sweaty
travel robe
looking now
with greedy eyes
bare winter trees
small talk
in the cellar
spring rain
….. by Kobayashi ISSA, translated by David G. Lanoue
update (Dec. 29, 2007): Like a musty odor in the basement, this saga continues to haunt our judicial system. See “Trial set in case of cash in the wall” (Daily Gazette, by Steven Cook, Dec. 29, 2007).