Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe NEW YORK, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- A Brooklyn, N.Y., man has been charged with attempted grand larceny for allegedly using a ruse to fraudulently claim ownership of a Lower Manhattan hotel. The New York Times reported Saturday that Kouadio Kouassi, 46, allegedly filed a deed with the city showing himself as the rightful owner of the SoHo Grand Hotel. Suspicious clerks, after noting that the deed lacked the proper signatures, notified the city Department of Investigations. Advertisement Rose Gill Hearn, the city investigations commissioner, said in a statement: "This defendant foolishly thought he had engineered a clever and brash ruse to gain ownership of a significant commercial property. He may now find himself sleeping in less glamorous accommodations." The popular hotel is owned by the Hartz Group and is valued at $76 million. A spokesman told the Times, "We think that since we bought the land, built the hotel, and have run it for 12 years that we actually own the hotel."
