Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, has been accused of filing false documents for three New York City apartment buildings, buying the buildings for $10m and then flipping them for $27m.

According to an investigation by the Housing Rights Initiative (HRI), Cohen and his partners tried to drive out tenants whose rents were kept down by rent stabilization laws so they could hike the rent, the watchdog group said on Monday.



Cohen, through a managing agent, filed for construction permits claiming that the buildings were vacant and had no rent-stabilized tenants – when in fact dozens of such tenants were living there, according to tax records, the group said.

Separately, Cohen pleaded guilty last week in federal court to eight criminal counts including fraud and campaign finance violations, directly implicating the president in a crime.

Tenants working with the same watchdog group brought a lawsuit last month making similar false paperwork allegations against Kushner Companies, the company formerly headed by Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser, Jared Kushner.

New York state then launched an investigation into charges the Kushner firm harassed tenants.

“Like the Kushner Cos, Cohen was playing a game of real estate roulette,” said the Housing Rights Initiative executive director, Aaron Carr.

In Cohen’s case, he made a $17m profit selling the three buildings after purchasing them through a shell corporation based out of his condo and owning them for just a few years. During the time he owned the buildings, more than two dozen rent-stabilized tenants moved out, and their apartments were converted to much more lucrative market rate units, the group found.

New York has launched an investigation into charges against the company formerly run by Jared Kushner. Photograph: Pablo Martínez Monsiváis/AP

HRI claimed that Cohen’s agent submitted more than 20 documents to the city department of buildings falsely representing that there were no rent-stabilized tenants in the buildings in order to get construction permits.

When construction work was under way, the buildings were hit with multiple tenant complaints and city violations for excessive noise and dust, work done at unauthorized hours, and demolition without a permit.

Carr said the behavior is distressingly common for landlords looking to get rid of low-paying tenants and increase their profits. “A culture of real estate corruption has taken root in New York state,” he said.

A representative for Cohen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Unlike the Kushner firm, Cohen is not being sued over the violations because he no longer owns the buildings. After pleading guilty last week to tax evasion, campaign finance violations and lying to a financial institution, he is set to be sentenced in December.