New York State Attorney General Janetta Joy announced on Thursday (June 25) the arrest and prosecution of 58-year-old Mark Salkey from Queens. Salkey is accused of deceiving a 92-year-old woman with dementia named Althea Garrick over the past two years by forging documents to transfer ownership of her property directly to himself in East Flatbush. He then went on to rent out the house, forcing the original owners, an elderly couple, to live crammed in a small bedroom.
Althea Garrick, now 92, had purchased the residence located at 162 East 95th Street in Brooklyn’s East Flatbush with her then-husband Reginald Kelly back in 1976. After their divorce in 1998, Garrick became the sole legal owner of the property and resided there for 47 years.
In recent years, Garrick developed severe dementia, requiring constant care at home.
Investigations revealed that suspect Salkey befriended Garrick through an acquaintance in 2022. Between 2022 and the end of 2024, Salkey maliciously took advantage of Garrick’s mental state to forge a complete set of signed documents, including the deed, and illegally changed the property’s ownership from Garrick to his own company, “Salkey Salkey & Associates, Inc.”
After obtaining ownership, Salkey allowed several unauthorized tenants, including his own sister, to move into the residence and charged them monthly rents ranging from $2,000 to $2,200, illegally profiting $70,000.
During this process, Garrick and her ex-husband Kelly, who came to care for her, were forced to squeeze into a small room within their own large home, watching strangers come and go.
Reportedly, the property was valued at about $950,000 when it was stolen in 2023 and has now exceeded $1 million in value.
In addition to the property theft, Salkey depleted Garrick’s hard-earned $148,000 bank savings through forged checks. He also stole $20,000 in retirement funds from Kelly.
Salkey recklessly spent the stolen money, using it to pay for his children’s private university tuition, credit cards, rental cars, clothing, luxury items, high-end jewelry, and travel tickets.
Attorney General Janetta Joy stated in a release, “Property theft is a heinous and heartless crime. My office will use all resources to return the house to its rightful owners and make this despicable individual pay the price!”
Salkey was arrested and brought in on June 23, facing 23 criminal charges including grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal possession of a forged instrument, offering a false instrument for filing, and falsifying business records.
If convicted, Salkey could face a maximum of 25 years in prison. The New York state government is currently working to expedite the nullification of the forged deed from years ago to help the Garrick family reclaim their property.