NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Brooklyn man was indicted Tuesday for multiple schemes which left several people defrauded out of thousands of dollars, the Brooklyn District Attorney announced.
The Manhattan Beach resident and licensed real estate agent, 33-year-old Michael Kapelow, listed properties in Brighton Beach from Dec. 2019 to Feb. 2020, swindling potential tenants out of their deposit money, officials said.
One couple attempted to rent an apartment through Kapelow at 380 Neptune Avenue, paying $21,225 in security deposits and advance rental payments, court documents said.
Another person sought an apartment at 40 Shore Boulevard and paid $5,990 to Kapelow for deposits and fees, authorities said.
Kapelow allegedly promised the apartment seekers he’d forward the money to the landlord or management company but instead deposited their payments into his bank account, according to an investigation.
Months later, in the midst of the pandemic, Kapelow allegedly continued his scamming, this time targeting medical distribution companies by promising to supply personal protection equipment. Kapelow told the companies he owned or had access to hundreds of boxes of medical gloves, officials said.
An investigation revealed Kapelow did not have the equipment he said he did and had no intention of providing it at a time of great need. A frustrated owner of one of the companies went to a location where Kapelow said his warehouse was located only to find an abandoned dance studio, authorities said.
In total, Kapelow made away with $69,556 from June 2020 to December 2020 from the PPE scam and an additional $6,250 from an investor who he promised to partner with on PPE sales, the investigation proved.
Kapelow strung his victims along in both schemes with alleged excuses and lies with none of the victims ever getting the apartments nor any of the companies receiving their PPE. Much of the money they gave Kapelow was spent at various casinos in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania within days of receiving it.
All together, Kapelow swindled $103,021 from the parties involved and faces multiple charges including several counts of grand larceny and possession of a forged instrument.
“This defendant allegedly stole more than one hundred thousand dollars, taking advantage of people seeking housing in Brooklyn and then, after the onset of the pandemic, exploiting shortages of essential personal protective equipment by falsely soliciting and offering supplies to medical distribution companies,” said District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “He allegedly stole not only money, but wasted valuable time and resources needed to protect essential workers in a time of unprecedented crisis. We will now seek to hold him accountable for his alleged crimes.”
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