Sontag pleads guilty to forgery; repays Ramapo $55K

A Ramapo community leader has repaid the town more than $55,000 as part of a non-jail guilty plea to filing forged documentation seeking a property tax exemption for a charity.

Shimon Sontag, a businessman who once led a Ramapo village incorporation movement, pleaded guilty to third-degree forgery Wednesday before state Supreme Court Justice William Kelly at the Rockland Courthouse in New City.

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As part of the plea agreement with the District Attorney's Office, Sontag paid $55,129 to Ramapo for 2013.

Prosecutor Richard Kennison Moran said Sontag signed the letter to renew a tax exemption for the Rose Ocko Foundation, established in 1978 to create assisted living housing on 34 acres in Ramapo. Sontag is president of the foundation, created in 1978 by the late Henry Ocko in the name of his wife.

The letter, submitted to the Ramapo Tax Assessor's Office, purported that improvements had been made to the land to build an assisted-living housing complex, making it eligible to remain tax-exempt.

The property has received exemptions over the years but no construction has begun on the long-planned housing, Moran has said.

Sontag's lawyers, Kenneth Gribetz and Deborah Wolikow-Loewenberg, said another person usually filed the paperwork.

"Rose Ocko always got a tax exemption," Gribetz said. "Shimon has a stellar reputation. He tries to help the community."

Twitter: @lohudlegal