Was A Fugitive From Elder Fraud Case
A 26-year-old Flushing woman was sentenced to a consecutive term of one to three years in prison for jumping bail shortly after pleading guilty in March 2007 under New York State’s hate crime statute to stealing an 85-yearold man’s life savings by falsely claiming to need the money to pay medical bills and to help start up a business and for investments.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown identified the defendant as Natasha Munchkin Marks, 26, whose last known address was 196th Street in Flushing. On Mar. 1, 2007, Marks pled guilty to second- and third-degree grand larceny as a hate crime before Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Pauline Mullings and agreed to make $150,000 in restitution to the victim. She also signed a waiver of extradition as a condition of her guilty plea.
On Mar. 29, 2007, Marks failed to make partial restitution as promised and failed to appear for a court appearance, and a warrant was issued for her arrest. On May 3, 2007, Marks was sentenced in absentia to two to six years in prison. An indictment was filed in Queens Supreme Court in May 2008, charging Marks with first-degree bail jumping.
Following her arrest last month in Oklahoma and her return to New York, Marks appeared before Queens Supreme Court Justice Pauline A. Mullings, who delivered the original sentence of two to six years in prison. On Apr. 23, Marks pleaded guilty to first-degree bail jumping before Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Barry Kron, who imposed last Wednesday, May 15, the indeterminate sentence of one to three years.
“There is truth to the saying that ‘justice is patient,’-as which this case can attest,” Brown said in a statement last Wednesday. “Sentenced in absentia to two to six years in prison back in 2007 after admitting to having befriended an elderly man and scamming him out of his life savings and then fleeing, this sweetheart swindler commenced serving her original prison sentence last month and will now serve additional years for jumping bail.”
According to the criminal charges, an investigation began on Sept. 15, 2006, when a family member and a neighbor of the 85-year-old victim reported to authorities that the man was being financially exploited by a woman known only as “Sandy.” In interviewing the victim, the District Attorney’s Elder Fraud Unit learned that the defendant had befriended him in a supermarket and that during conversations in person and on the telephone she told him numerous hard luck tales.
Between Feb. 24 and June 17, 2006, Marks had requested the 85- year-old male victim to provide her with hundreds of thousands of dollars for various expenses-such as hospital bills, doctor bills, start-up money for a business and for investments.
As part of her scheme, Marks had instructed the victim how to write the checks and had obtained numerous checks payable to one of her aliases, “Crystal Smith.” Marks told the victim that “Crystal” was a friend who would cash the checks which totaled $164,000.
Marks had the victim write out other checks, totaling $85,000, payable to “East West Restoration”- a company owned by a friend of Marks’ deceased mother. Marks then endorsed the checks and cashed them at several different check cashing locations.
According to the District Attorney, the criminal complaint charged that Marks, between Aug. 15 and Sept. 6, 2006 and without the victim’s knowledge or permission, filed with the city Department of Finance’s Office of City Register as his Power of Attorney-using the name Crystal Smith-in order to conduct banking and real estate transactions on his behalf.
Thereafter, Marks, again without the victim’s permission and knowledge, re-financed the mortgage on his Howard Beach home and withdrew $560,000 in equity from the property. At the mortgage closing on Aug. 22, 2006, Marks appeared as the victim’s power of attorney and presented a fraudulent social security card and Illinois driver’s license bearing the name of Crystal Smith.
A week later, on Aug. 29, the mortgage funds were deposited into an account belonging to the victimand Marks then repeatedly called the man, instructing him to go to the bank and take out the money.
Brown said that under the provisions of New York State’s Hate Crimes Act of 2000, enhanced charges can be filed when a defendant commits a larceny and selects his or her victim because of their age which is defined as being 60 years of age or older.
The Elder Fraud Unit was established by Brown to specifically address the concerns of financial exploitation of the elderly. Through the U.S. Department of Justice, the District Attorney’s office obtained a grant sponsored by then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to combat financial exploitation more effectively.
The Elder Fraud Unit utilizes a three -prong approach-a dedicated prosecution unit, specialized support services to address the social service needs of senior victims and, thirdly, community outreach to both raise public awareness and help seniors better protect themselves from the various types of financial scams and to familiarize them with the services available to them, along with training for professionals and community groups in elder abuse detection, assessment and prevention.
Brown expressed his appreciation to Deputy Curtis Back of the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office and Sgt. Ken Ericson of the Midwest City Warrant Squad for their assistance in the investigation.
The extradition was handled by Senior Assistant District Attorney Alix Kucker, supervisor of the District Attorney’s Extraditions Unit, and paralegal Anna Lucatorto, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Therese M. Lendino, Grand Jury Bureau chief, and Patricia A. Malloy, deputy bureau chief, and the overall supervision of Senior Executive Assistant District Attorney James C. Quinn.
The investigation was conducted by Det. Sgt. Evelyn MacDougall and Det. Richard Lewis and former Det. Jerome Pugh of the District Attorney’s Detective Squad under the su- pervision of Lt. Robert Burke and Sgt. John Kenna and the overall supervision of Chief Lawrence J. Festa and Deputy Chief Al D. Velardi and by Laurie K. Woods, director of the District Attorney’s Elder Abuse Project.
Assistant District Attorney Kristen A. Kane, chief of the Elder Fraud Unit of District Attorney Brown’s Economic Crimes Bureau, prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Gregory C. Pavlides, bureau chief, and Christina Hanophy, deputy bureau chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.
