A Brooklyn Supreme Court judge, under investigation for alleged real-estate fraud, was suspended – with pay – yesterday while the state’s highest court decides whether to boot him from the bench permanently.
Justice Reynold Mason – who makes $136,700 a year as a civil judge – is accused of illegally subletting his rent-stabilized apartment. The matter is the subject of criminal investigations in both Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Mason, 52, who has been a judge since 1995, took an extended, voluntary leave of absence in June after the state Commission on Judicial Conduct called for his removal from the bench.
Mason is in the process of appealing that recommendation. In the meantime, the state Court of Appeals issued a decision yesterday suspending Mason.
Neither Mason nor his lawyer could be reached for comment. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes has indicated a grand jury could be asked to indict Mason on charges he gave evasive testimony during commission hearings.
Hynes’ Manhattan counterpart, Robert Morgenthau, is looking at the possibility of prosecution for real-estate fraud.
The allegations against Mason stem from a dispute he had with his former landlord over a rent-stabilized apartment in Flatbush.