The self-proclaimed “Wolf of Airbnb” accused of illegally subletting more than a dozen Manhattan apartments and operating them as “mini hotels” — all while skipping out on rent — pleaded guilty to federal charges Monday over the scheme.
Florida resident Konrad Bicher, 31 — an expectant father — will face up to 20 years behind bars at his sentencing on one count of wire fraud.
Bicher will also face a $150,000 fine and has agreed to pay $1.7 million in forfeitures and another $1.98 million back to his victims.
Starting in February 2019, Bicher and his associates leased at least 18 Big Apple properties and then put them up as short-term rentals — breaking New York City laws and violating contracts, prosecutors said.
The group ran them like “mini hotels,” listing them on platforms including Airbnb, the feds said.
It’s illegal in the city to offer comparable units for rent for less than 30 days.
“Bicher proudly referred to himself as the ‘Wolf of Airbnb,'” Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “But, as he admitted in court today, his businesses were premised on fraud.”
And while he was cashing in on the units — including making as much as $97 an hour in film crew rentals — Bicher cried poverty during the pandemic, prosecutors alleged.
In the spring of 2021, Bicher made at least four applications for federal Payment Protection Program business loans — after he filed doctored tax information and lied on the applications.
Because of the fraudulent applications, he received $565,000 and when the leases expired, he refused to move out and continued subletting the places, prosecutors said.
Bicher got out of paying at least $1 million between 2019 and April 2022, all while he made more than $1.7 million in income on those same properties, the feds claimed.
While Bicher faces the hefty sentence, he is likely to receive far less under federal guidelines, which recommend he get 46 to 57 months in prison. A sentencing date has not been set yet.
Bicher — who showed off his flashy lifestyle on since-wiped social media accounts — explained to the Real Deal last year that the moniker signifies “someone who is hungry and ruthless enough to get on top of the financial ladder.”
“Wolves are territorial, vicious and show no mercy when provoked,” he said.
Bicher also faced several lawsuits for similar conduct, at least one of which was settled and some of which are still pending.
His attorney, Howard Schmacher, had no comment.
