The case against one owner of a troubled West Mifflin apartment complex will move forward, a magistrate ruled Friday.
Defendant Moshe “Mark” Silber, of New York, faces a number of charges related to living conditions at Mon View Heights, and its finances, such as theft, receiving stolen property, and dealing in the proceeds of illegal activity.
The 326-unit apartment complex in West Mifflin is privately owned, but receives federal funds to house low-income tenants.
Citing hundreds of police calls to the property, a lack of security, and poor conditions for residents that included raw sewage in an area near where children waited for a school bus, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala, Jr. last year filed public nuisance charges against Mon View Apts LLC, a company tied to Silber.
“This case is not about bank accounts, and LLCs…This case is about the individuals that live in the Mon View apartments,” John Pittman, deputy district attorney told Magisterial District Judge Richard Olasz Jr. on Friday. “Our citizens, our neighbors, should not live under these conditions.”
Another Mon View owner, who still faces charges, testified against Silber at a preliminary hearing on Friday.
Fredrick Schulman told the court he thought he only owned a small portion of the company, and only became aware, as legal problems arose, that his name and signature were on a number of ownership and loan documents Silber had him sign.
Schulman said he had signed documents without knowing what they were due to “stupidity” and “trust” in Silber, who he had known for many years. Schulman said he had no involvement in the day-to-day operations or finances of Mon View or any other properties.
The West Mifflin property is one of a number of local affordable housing complexes linked to New Jersey-based NB Affordable. WESA has previously reported on resident concerns about safety, mold, and other problems at their other sites. Pittsburgh City Council held a post-agenda meeting in January to discuss how to assist tenants without displacing people in need of an affordable place to live.
Additionally on Friday, a former employee of Silber’s also testified that she had made Silber aware of deteriorating conditions at Mon View.
A detective from the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office testified as to the web of LLCs and bank accounts tied to the property. She said the Mon View account was often overdrawn with funds going to other LLCs connected to Silber.
Silber’s attorney, Tina Miller, argued the expenses coming out of the Mon View account were legitimate property maintenance costs, and also cited instances in which the other various LLCs put money into the account. She argued that the charges should be dismissed.
Silber appeared remotely from a correctional facility in New Jersey; he pleaded guilty last year in a separate federal fraud case.
Silber’s attorney argued many of the problems at the property occurred or worsened after Silber had to stop managing the property due to the federal case.
“Things just fell apart after the federal investigation started,” Miller started.
Silber will be arraigned on May 15.
