Results tagged “con”

The son of a Harlem landlord is accused scamming potential buyers by trying to sell a building he did not own. The commercial property, located on a triangular lot just north of Central Park at 21-41 Lenox Avenue, was entirely owned by another man. But alleged grifter Henry Vargas told buyers the man, Manuel Duran Jr., was just an elderly farmer from the Dominican Republic whose share was only 10 percent.

A 25-year-old Chase Bank investment adviser is behind bars at Rikers Island after being charged with siphoning $110,000 from a millionaire's private account. Saucy Robin Katz worked at Chase's midtown headquarters until May, at which point she told employers she had to return to California for a family emergency. In April, one of Chase's clients realized that his seven-figure account balance had a six-figure shortfall, and auditors determined that an extra ATM card in the millionaire's name had been created in June 2008 and was used dozens of times to withdraw cash out of the account. Bank investigators traced the scam to Katz and asked her to return from California because she had some explainin' to do; she was arrested after arriving back in NYC last week. A police source tells the Post, "She just spent it... shopping and going out." The tabloid also pulls some choice quotes from Katz's MySpace profile, where she describes herself as a "rocket scientist by day, party fool by night," and lists her interests thus: "Politics: F-- Bush. Sex: F-- Me."

Last year, 51-year-old Cecille Villacorta, an ex-Saks employee, went on trial for charges that, through a unique con, she stole over $1 million from the Manhattan flagship store. She faced up to 7 years in prison for grand larceny, and now the court has finally handed down her sentence: 90 days behind bars, five years’ probation and a $96,000 fine. Though Villacorta reportedly left the courtroom happy, the conviction is being appealed—if it's upheld, she also faces deportation to her native Philippines.

A source tells the Post that two con men who ran a mortgage scam bilking millions out of now-failed lenders like Countrywide and Washington Mutual blew obscene amounts of money on extravagant gambling trips to Atlantic City. Garri Zhigun and Aleksander Lipkin pleaded guilty earlier this month to running a 27-member gang that borrowed money to buy properties, then faked sales at inflated prices to borrow even more before defaulting on the loans. The two swindlers—who were backed by the Russian mob—made dozens of trips to Atlantic City between '05 and '06, where they were high rollers awarded with free hotel rooms and show tickets. And all this took place while Zhigun was on parole after serving two years in prison for his participation in an insurance scam involving staged car accidents.