New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the arrests and indictments of three individuals for allegedly stealing a 50 percent ownership stake in a Bronx family home, valued at approximately $340,000. The accused are Chenenne Guevarra-Francis, a retired NYPD detective; Merrick Dammar, an attorney; and Barbara Guevarra-Francis, a retired nurse.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) conducted an investigation revealing that Chenenne and her mother, Barbara, used forged documents to take over the ownership stake of the home from Chenenne’s sister Charmein Guevarra-Francis after her death. These documents were prepared and notarized by Dammar on the day Charmein passed away. This act prevented Charmein’s husband from inheriting his wife’s share of the property.
“Deed theft is a heartless crime, and it’s particularly tragic when the thieves are stealing from their own family members,” said Attorney General James. “Charmein Guevarra-Francis’ family used her death to steal her share of the family home from her widowed husband, but today we are bringing them to justice.”
Charmein shared ownership of the Eastchester Road home with her mother Barbara. Following Charmein’s death due to cardiac arrest in July 2020, Barbara and Chenenne transferred Charmein’s ownership share to themselves using forged documents. In May 2023, Chenenne attempted to evict Charmein’s husband; however, this eviction was blocked by the OAG using a new deed theft law.
The charges against Chenenne Guevarra-Francis, Barbara Guevarra-Francis, and Merrick Dammar include grand larceny in the second degree, criminal possession of stolen property in the second degree, forgery in the second degree, criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, and offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree. The maximum sentence for these charges could be five to 15 years in prison if convicted.
The OAG expressed gratitude to several agencies for their assistance in this case: “The OAG thanks the New York State Police for the criminal referral and its assistance with this investigation and prosecution. The OAG also thanks the New York City Department of Finance for their assistance.”
Detectives Teresa Russo, Christopher Ryan, Jennifer Garcia supervised by Anna Ospanova and Walter Lynch led investigations alongside Deputy Chief Juanita Bright and Detective Specialist John Collins under Norman Doyle’s supervision. The Investigations Bureau is headed by Chief Oliver Pu-Folkes.
Assistant Attorneys General Lauren Sass and Joy Kieras are prosecuting under Nicholas John Batsidis’ supervision along with Gerard Murphy and Kiran Heer overseeing legal support from Alexandra Crespo within both Investigations Bureau & Public Integrity Bureau part of Division Criminal Justice led José Maldonado overseen Jennifer Levy.
