Pay up — or you’ll never see your chaise lounge again!
A Queens father and son were busted for allegedly using their interstate moving companies to extort customers — demanding victims pay thousands if they wanted their belongings returned, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Michael Nadel, 65, and son Yarin “Joe” Nadel, 35, are accused of netting $100,000 from dozens of customers who they forced into paying bogus extra fees to get their stuff back between February 2018 and July 2019.
The Fresh Meadows duo allegedly defrauded customers by giving quotes they had “no intention of honoring.” Once the possessions were loaded onto their trucks, the men then told their marks “additional fees were due,” prosecutors claim.
In some cases, the men and employees of their “State to State” moving companies threatened to sell and auction customer’s belongings if they didn’t cough up the extra cash, prosecutors charge.
In others, they threatened to keep victims’ items in storage and force them to shoulder the storage fees until they paid the marked-up prices.
Many customers ultimately ended up paying, but their belongings were delivered weeks or even months after the scheduled date — and valuable items were either damaged or missing, according to court documents.
For example, in July 2018, one alleged New Hampshire victim moving to South Carolina was quoted $5,200 by one of their companies, using an 18-wheeler to move his large load, court papers say.
But the pair instead showed up with a small Penske rental truck and, after loading his property, told the victim the quoted price was no longer valid and that he now owed at least $10,000, prosecutors allege.
The guy paid the fee — but his belongings still arrived two weeks late and with valuable items worth more than $30,000 missing, court documents allege.
“The victims are forced into a Catch-22 scenario of either paying the extortionate additional fees, being deprived of their property for months, or even potentially permanently losing their personal property,” said US Attorney Richard P. Donoghue in a statement.
The father-son duo pleaded not guilty to wire fraud charges in Brooklyn federal court Tuesday afternoon.
They were released on $20,000 bonds and instructed not to work for any moving companies.
“I think it would be safer that they not work in the moving industry,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Gillian Kassner told the court.
1 comment:
they switch into electronics business. and do scamm again . crazy people. don't want pay . bounced check .he has few locations on 103th street and junction blvd. cheap and poor quality .very high price
Post a Comment