Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx woman has been sentenced to three years probation after paying restitution in the amount of $60,346 stolen from 21 immigrants in a scheme promising affordable apartments in city-owned buildings.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant preyed on hardworking immigrants desperate for affordable housing, taking amounts from $1,620 to $3,240 for deposits on apartments, which were enormous sums for the victims. We are pleased to recover more than $60,000 for them.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Jennifer Ricardo, 42, of Decatur Avenue, the Bronx, was sentenced today to three years probation after paying restitution in the amount of $60,346, including processing fees, by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Guy H. Mitchell. On November 16, 2022, Ricardo pleaded guilty to third-degree Grand larceny was re-sentenced to petit larceny after paying back the stolen funds.
According to the investigation, between June 2019 and September 2020, Ricardo posed as a real estate broker or an employee of city housing agencies. She targeted Spanish speaking immigrants, primarily from the Dominican Republic, accepting rent payments and security deposits for apartments in Bronx buildings. The would-be renters never received keys or got the apartments and could not get in contact with Ricardo after they paid her.
District Attorney Clark thanked Police Officer John Istorico of the NYPD Bronx Grand Larceny Squad for his assistance in the investigation. District Attorney Clark also thanked the New York City Department of Investigation, New York City Housing Preservation and Development, New York City Housing Development Corporation, and Safe Horizon for their assistance.
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