A woman from Brooklyn is alleging that she’s a victim of deed theft, while simultaneously facing accusations of kidnapping her father, who is missing and supposedly being used to collect his Social Security benefits. This startling claim came to light during a court session in Georgia on Thursday.
Carmela Charrington attended court without her father, 84-year-old Allman, who suffers from Alzheimer’s and is officially a ward of the state in Georgia. Despite previous assurances that he would be returned home after a court appearance in Brooklyn Supreme Court three years ago, he was noticeably absent.
Last month, when Carmela went to court without her father, she ended up spending five days at Rikers Island.
Her release coincided with an anti-eviction protest outside her disputed home in Bed-Stuy, which culminated in an arrest involving City Councilman Chi Osse.
Osse had previously shown up at another hearing but wasn’t present for this one.
Justice Rachel Friar of the Brooklyn Supreme Court pressed for information on Allman’s location, but Charrington’s attorney, Tricia Lindsay, did not provide a definitive response.
“He has lived at 212 Jefferson Street in New York for over two years,” Lindsay stated.
“Is he there now?” Justice Friar interjected.
“Yes, sir,” Lindsay answered, adding, “Mr. Charrington is here now and someone needs to be with him.”
Carmela asserts that both she and her father are victims of deed theft, yet the state of Georgia contends that Allman is, in fact, a kidnapping victim.
“Carmela orchestrated the kidnapping of Mr. Allman Charrington,” stated David Laniado, representing the state, as he requested for her to be returned to custody.
Laniado noted that search efforts for Allman have been unsuccessful, suggesting he’s been moved around multiple locations.
“She openly defies court orders and frequently misses court dates,” he added.
Luann Bonney, a guardian and attorney from Georgia, expressed, “I’ve never encountered a family fleeing with someone incapacitated.” She, surprisingly, had never witnessed such a situation before.
However, during the proceedings, it was revealed that Carmela had no hesitation in visiting the local Social Security office to collect her father’s checks, according to Bonney.
“An investigation by the Social Security Administration found that Carmela took him to their office and continued cashing his checks,” Bonney mentioned, stating that payments were halted thereafter.
Property records indicate that the house on Jefferson Street has a complex history but eventually was sold for $1.4 million to a firm called 227 Group LLC, with Bonney’s consent.
Charrington argues that Bonney acted unlawfully by facilitating the sale and failed to clarify what happened to the $1.4 million.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Letitia James remarked that the incident doesn’t qualify as “technically” deed theft and pointed out that it constitutes a property disagreement among the heirs and relatives of the previous co-owners.
In the wake of Osse’s arrest last month, Mayor Zoran Mamdani announced a new office aimed at tackling deed theft through the Ministry of Finance.
