NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A 32-year-old woman was charged Friday with scheming to steal the Queens home of an elderly veteran, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Jasmine Morgan, of Jamaica, Queens, was charged with grand larceny, identity theft and other crimes after she allegedly posed as the granddaughter of the victim to fraudulently transfer a property deed into her name.
“This defendant was ultimately caught in a tangled web of her own making – a paper trail of bogus transactions that revealed a complicated con to steal a man’s home,” DA Katz said.
According to the charges, Morgan claimed to be the granddaughter of a deceased Queens homeowner around Feb. 6, 2020, and offered to facilitate the sale of the home, located on 198th Street in St. Albans.
Morgan and an unapprehended second individual – who posed as the homeowner – then agreed to a sale price of $300,000 with a buyer, and entered into a contract, Katz said.
Morgan allegedly accepted a $5,000 down payment and also provided identification and a death certificate for the dead grandfather and uncle in her story.
On March 6, 2020, she again posed as the heir to the deceased homeowner’s estate when she appeared at a law firm in Queens for the closing with the other individual.
Katz said the deed transfer for the property was confirmed by a lawyer, who then gave Morgan a check for just over $134,000 – which she then allegedly cashed at a Brooklyn check cashing establishment for cash.
According to Katz, the ruse was only discovered by the true homeowner – a 74-year-old veteran – when he was sued by the person who thought they had purchased the home from Morgan.
The victim maintained that he did not transfer his deed and does not have a granddaughter.
“By posing as a grieving granddaughter, the defendant allegedly duped multiple people into believing she was entitled to a $134,000 payday from the sale of a house to which she had no rightful claim,” DA Katz said. “The victim is a 74-year-old veteran who was left with a mess to unravel.”
Morgan was ordered to return to court on Jan. 31, 2022. If convicted, she faces up to 15 years in prison.
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