Police: Man who scammed LI seniors out of more than $100K arrested

Police say they have arrested a 23-year-old Bronx man who is believed to have scammed older Long Islanders out of thousands of dollars.

News 12 Staff

Dec 20, 2018, 10:41 AM

Updated 1,954 days ago

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Police say they have arrested a 23-year-old Bronx man who is believed to have scammed older Long Islanders out of thousands of dollars.
Police say Fredrick Espinal scammed an 81-year-old Oceanside woman out of $45,000.
Detectives say he went back to her home three separate times, telling the woman that her son had been in an accident that resulted in a pregnant woman losing her baby. He said the money was needed for his bail.
Since January, police say Espinal managed to con seniors out more than $100,000.
Nassau police arrested him in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he was visiting family and friends.
Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder issued a warning to anyone considering scamming old people out of their money.
“Bad guys beware. You want to come to our county and scam people, we're going to put the full resources behind it,” he says. “We're going to track you down wherever you may go.”
Ryder says the same man may be responsible for at least five other possible scams in Nassau County, plus one they know about in Lake Success. In that case, News 12 sources say a 71-year-old woman handed over $12,500.
Espinal was brought back from Massachusetts Thursday. He is set to be arraigned Friday in Mineola.
Espinal has only been charged in the Oceanside and Lake Success cases. He's facing four counts of felony grand larceny. 


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