New Haven Independent

Keyes Monday approved a settlement agreement by which Brancati and his business partner, Mark Perez, will pay $15,000 to the estate of Margaret Amrich of 18 Cottage St.

The agreement was approved by the office of Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, which investigated the matter after it was reported, in this story, that the estate appeared to have been shortchanged when Brancati and Perez bought the widow’s home.

Brancati and Perez bought the home for $250,000 in April 2006 and resold it for $368,000 several months ago, turning a $118,000 profit. Those profits were held in escrow while the court investigated whether the widow’s intended benefactor— a “crippled children’s fund” to be established by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven— had been shortchanged by the deal.

Keyes’ four-page decision settles the score with Brancati and Perez, but leaves one question unanswered, according to the judge: Did the estate’s original executor, Gabriel Cusanelli, execute his duties “faithfully and properly”? Questions have arisen over the propriety of the sale because Sal Brancati and Mark Perez were allied with Cusanelli in a limited partnership called PCB Ventures at the time Cusanelli agreed to sell the home to them.

Blumenthal has said he may file a lawsuit against Cusanelli in Superior Court to seek additional assets.

Read previous Independent coverage of the Cottage Street sale here:

• “‘Crippled Children’ Shortchanged?”
• “AG Investigating Cottage St. Deal”
• “City: Deal Was ‘Not Honest’”
• “No Permits On File For 18 Cottage St.”
• “Insiders Paid $250K; He Would Have Paid $350K”
• “Ginsberg: We Never OK’d Insider Sale”
• “Blumenthal Objects to Cottage St. Ledger”
• Keyes, Blumenthal Go After 18 Cottage Profits
• Brancati Agrees To Give Back $15K
• Judge To Decide On Brancati’s $15K Settlement