Colonie police arrested the owner of Saratoga Winners last week, charging him with third degree arson, insurance fraud and falsifying business records for allegedly setting his own establishment on fire to collect insurance money.
Akiva D. Abraham, 43, of Rexford, is the owner of Saratoga Winners, a Colonie nightclub that, in the past, has served as a popular concert venue for many now-famous performers. Abraham was arrested Friday, May 15, at his residence after police concluded their investigation of the Thursday, April 30, fire that destroyed the building, located at 1375 Loudon Road.
The investigation was done by the Colonie Police Department, Colonie Fire Services, the New York State Police, the Albany County District Attorney’s Office, the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control, the Albany County Fire Coordinator and the New York State Insurance Department.
According to Chief of Colonie Fire Services Peter Lattanzio, the building had consumed itself in a short amount of time, after the fire broke out at about 3:13 a.m.
`It collapsed down within a half hour or 45 minutes of the fire being discovered,` he said.
Lattanzio said that by the time the Boght Fire District responded to the fire, the fire chief found the building `heavily involved in fire.` The fire department had to use tankers from Southern Saratoga fire departments because there were no hydrants available on the scene. Lattanzio could not estimate how much water was used to put out the fire.
Lattanzio said that the building has been around since the early 1900s.
`It’s had a variety of uses,` he said. `It was a potato chip factory, it was a dance hall, then it was converted to a bar.`
As a bar, Lattanzio said the venue was used to hold rock band concerts, but for the past several years has been vacant.
After the fire, questions began to arise on both the town and county level as to who owned the property. The previous owners, as recorded by the Town of Colonie and Albany County, were Stephen and Nickole Sutliff, according to Town of Colonie Assessor Ron Monfils.
But according to Colonie Police Detective Lt. John Van Alstyne, the Sutliffs provided police with information that showed that Abraham purchased the property and was the most recent owner.
According to Monfils, Abraham might not have recorded the deed he had for the property, which he said is not against the law.
`I don’t think there’s any requirement that you have to record the deed,` said Monfils.
However, by not recording the deed, questions about the property and its owner become more difficult to track down.
Monfils also said that since the buildings on the property were still intact on March 1 of this year, the owner will be responsible for paying the $6,500 in taxes, Monfils estimated, on the property later this year. The 3.83 acres that make up the property was last assessed at $217,700, Monfils said.
According to Van Alstyne, `Forensics showed some kind of accelerant was used poured around the building.` Van Alstyne said this accelerant was used most likely to burn the building purposely and not accidentally.
Van Alstyne also said that Abraham had allegedly burned the building in order to collect insurance money from an insurance policy he had opened upon taking ownership of the property.
Van Alstyne said he was aware of an investigation into a possible connection with a Saratoga County salon fire that occurred about a year ago. That investigation is being conducted outside the Colonie Police Department. Calls to the Saratoga County Dustrict Attorney’s office and the Saratoga County Sheriff’s office were not returned before press time.
Abraham was arrested on the three felony charges and transported to the Colonie police station. He was arraigned and sent to the Albany County Correctional Facility without bail.
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