By Stephen Stirling
A Flushing man on parole for Medicaid fraud was arrested for allegedly scamming three women he was dating out of tens of thousands of dollars, the Nassau County DA said last week.
According to Nassau DA Kathleen Rice, 57-year-old Jay Weinberg was charged with grand larceny and scheme to defraud in Nassau Criminal Court Aug. 12 for allegedly bilking $41,000 from three Nassau County women by promising them huge returns on investments made with him.
“This con man pulled on the heartstrings and preyed on the wallets of these women,” Rice said. “He will now find out that the Nassau County criminal justice system is much harder to deceive.”
Rice said between February 2008 and May 2009, Weinberg met the women through the social networking site Facebook and Jewish singles Web site JDate.com. She said Weinberg pursued romantic relationships with them before allegedly convincing them to invest in a phony Valley Stream, L.I.-based investment company, Kensington Orientals, by promising returns of up to 85 percent.
Rice said no investments were ever made with the money and Weinberg instead allegedly deposited the cash into his personal and business accounts.
This is not Weinberg’s first encounter with fraud charges, however.
The Flushing resident is currently on parole for a 1988 Medicaid fraud conviction. Weinberg served more than five years in prison for billing Medicaid for $16 million in services that were never provided at the Brooklyn medical clinic he ran with his father.
The Nassau DA said Weinberg faces up to seven years in prison if convicted of the latest charges.
Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e-mail at sstirling@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
