An accused real estate fraudster has been indicted for allegedly conning his way into owning two Manhattan properties — in one case forcing the true elderly proprietor of a $2.9 million Harlem brownstone to live in a homeless shelter.

Joseph Makhani, 60, of Kings Point, NY, was charged with two counts of criminal possession of stolen property and one count of scheme to defraud over the con that dates back to 2012, according to New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Makhani allegedly forged deeds for the properties — 107 West 118th Street and 135 West 131st Street — and claimed in state tax filings to have paid just $10 for each of the buildings, actually worth a combined $4.7 million, the AG’s office said.

While Makhani carried out the alleged swindle of the West 118th Street building, the purported true owner, Veronica Palmer, 81, collected cans in the street and was cast out to live in a Brownsville homeless shelter, The Post recently learned.

Palmer, a former corrections officer who her brother John Jackson said had been mentally ill for decades, purchased the property in $85,000 in 1985, and had not talked to her worried family in years, Jackson said last week.

Prosecutors allege Makhani claimed on a mortgage application to have paid $975,000 for the brownstone in order to obtain a $650,000 construction loan for renovations.

He then successfully applied to turn the once-dilapidated 118th Street property into market-rate apartment rentals which now generate $12,000 in monthly rental income for him, James alleged.

Further uptown, Makhani allegedly forged fake deeds to the 131st Street property after learning the last deed holder had died in the 70s, prosecutors said.

He then tried to evict the tenants from the $1.8 million building and claimed the heirs of the last recorded owner transferred the property to his company, according to James.

He abandoned the ruse after being sued by the city for failing to maintain the building, which was later foreclosed upon, officials said.

Makhani arraigned Monday on the indictment and faces up to 25 years in state prison, if convicted.

He was brought up on the same charges by James, the state’s top prosecutor, in 2021. But that case was dropped over a technicality. In April, a state court ruled the AG could re-try the case.

Several charges Makhani was accused of in the 2021 case do not appear in the new indictment because the statue of limitations had since expired, sources close to the case said.

“Shameless deed thieves like Joseph Makhani target vulnerable homeowners and steal their most valuable and personal asset,” James said in a statement.

“This crime harms entire communities, especially those facing population displacement and gentrification. The fear and confusion unleashed on New Yorkers when they learn their homes have been stolen out from under them is something no one should have to endure,” she said.

“I will continue my efforts to address deed theft and hold people like Joseph Makhani accountable.”

The indictment against Makhani came just days after he doubled down on his alleged fraud, filing court papers that claimed that one of his companies has had “continuous” control of 107 West 118th St. for more than a decade.

The only person who could challenge his ownership is Palmer, the lawsuit claimed.

Her whereabouts remained unknown, although she did sent a gift to her siblings in June, writing the address of her lost brownstone on the package, her brother said.

If Palmer fails to respond to the newest legal filing, a judge would likely award the developer a default judgment making the new criminal case complicated and murky, legal sources said Tuesday.

Long before the alleged brownstone theft, Makhani and his brother were among 25 real estate brokers who pleaded guilty in 1998 to a massive bid-rigging scheme on foreclosed properties in Queens