The Real Deal has ranked the top listing agents of the week based on the highest priced residential deals filed with the city.

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Four men were found guilty of participating in a $100 million mortgage fraud scheme tied to a company called AFG Financial Group, a statement by the office of the Manhattan district attorney said. Aaron Hand, Kenneth Law, Eric Shields and Jerry Strklja were found guilty of multiple felonies such as enterprise corruption, scheme to defraud, conspiracy and dozens of grand larcenies, the DA's office said. Sentencing for Hand is scheduled for Sept. 17, while sentencing for the others is set for Sept. 7, the district attorney's office said. TRD

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Anglo Irish Bank plans to auction the unsold 230 apartments of Rector Square, the foreclosed Battery Park City condominium conversion, in a bulk sale in September, with some analysts valuing the remaining units at $400 a square foot. The lender is waiting for a final ruling from a state Supreme Court judge, who heard closing arguments regarding the auction this morning. That final ruling could come within the next few weeks. “The suit is moving toward conclusion and we anticipate a sale in mid- to late-September,” Chris Sullivan, an attorney with Herrick Feinstein, which represents Anglo Irish Bank, told The Real Deal, through a spokesperson. “There are a few procedural items to work out, but a sale of the property appears likely.” [more]

more By David Jones

1. Congressman Rangel inaccurately signed lease on rent-stabilized apartment: ethics committee [NYT]
2. Architect Charles Renfro discusses the renovation of Lincoln Center [Capital] 
3. Late “Golden Girl” Rue McClanahan’s Sutton Place apartment is on the market [NY Mag] 
4. Goldman Sachs unveils designs for Battery Park City renovation [NYT] 
5. Domino Sugar Factory will ruin South Williamsburg waterfront [Guest of a Guest] 
6. New pet store Paws and the City to open in Crown Heights [Nostrand Park] 
7. Larry Silverstein justifies refusal to allow businesses to settle 9/11 losses [Post] 
8. Is the U.S. housing market really rebounding? [Breaking Views via Patrick.net] 
9. Harlem eatery Gospel Uptown files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy [Crain’s] 
10. Many cities await recovery in struggling housing market [MSNBC via Patrick.net] 
11. Shadow inventory to push 2011 home prices down: report [Housing Wire] 
12. COO of New York Stock Exchange buys home at 48 Walker Street in Tribeca [NYO, 3rd item]
13. Landmarks Preservation Commission to vote Tuesday on Ground Zero mosque [NYO] 
14. BK Whopper Bar set for soft opening in Times Square Saturday [NYT] 
15. EV community board 3 still waiting for Chloe Sevigny’s application [EV Grieve] 
16. Bob Steele, new deputy mayor for Economic Development Corp., starts Monday [NYO] 
17. 153 Lincoln Place condominium in Park Slope sells out [Brownstoner]

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New renderings of the Loews Pitkin Theater, at 1501 Pitkin Avenue in Brownsville, were published yesterday by ArchPaper. The Pitkin Theater -- once home to the likes of Jackie Gleason, Milton Berle and Humphrey Bogart -- was closed since 1969, until ground was broken last week on a new charter school and retail complex. Developer POKO Partners is working together with Kitchen & Associates, a firm based in Collingswood, NJ, on the renovation. [more]

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Brookfield Properties, the New York-based landlord and subsidiary of Toronto's Brookfield Asset Management, plans to depart from the housing market entirely to focus exclusively on office properties, Bloomberg News reported. The company, which just invested billions in bankrupt shopping mall owner General Growth Properties and also has $1.2 billion in residential assets, is currently in talks to merge its Carma Development home building unit with Brookfield Asset Management's Brookfield Homes. [more]

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Treeline has sold the former Brooklyn Savings Bank building at 205 Montague Street -- known as the place where Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers -- for $33 million, Crain’s reported. According to Treeline, which owned the five-story building for 15 years, the sale price was double their original investment in the property. The buyer was Midtown Equities, a real estate investment and development firm run by World Trade Center investor Joseph Cayre. [more]

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A seller at the Upper East Side's Chatham condominium is taking an artistic approach to unloading his three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom unit, according to Curbed, offering up two paintings by famed surrealist Salvador Dali. The unit, which sits inside the Robert A.M. Stern-designed building at 181 East 65th Street between Third and Lexington avenues, is on the market for $6.75 million, with Prudential Douglas Elliman's Leonel Piraino handling the listing. [more]

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Even a guerilla campaign using posters and spray paint in Park Slope last November was not enough to convince buyers to purchase a condo in an eight-unit building developed by Monogram Properties at 211 23rd Street, Brownstoner reported. Sales were first launched back in 2007, when prices ranged from the mid $400,000s to $889,000. When they relaunched in November, prices started at $563,748 and went up to $811,578. [more]

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Mortgage interest rates have reached record lows for the sixth week in a row, for the week ending July 29, according to data from government-sponsored mortgage giant Freddie Mac. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged a 4.54 contract interest rate, down from 4.56 percent last week and 5.25 percent during the same week last year. It was the lowest interest rate for the 30-year mortgage recorded in the 30-year history of Freddie Mac's survey. Its 15-year counterpart averaged 4 percent, down from 4.03 percent last week and 4.69 percent last year. [more]

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