380 Riverside Drive (Google Maps)
An Upper West Side doorman is facing serious charges for stealing almost half a million dollars from a retired teacher and her husband.
Alfredo Mateo, 38, was just indicted on a slew of charges for stealing about $477,685 from an elderly couple at 380 Riverside Drive (corner of West 110th Street).
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“As alleged, Alfredo Mateo abused his access as a doorman to deplete the financial accounts of a retired teacher who was living in a nursing home, and her husband, who had recently passed away,” said District Attorney Bragg. “Those who take advantage of the access entrusted in them to target older community members and steal from hardworking New Yorkers will be held accountable. I thank the Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District for their partnership in the investigation.”
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During the course of the fraud, the teacher lived at a nursing home, “where she lived under a court-ordered guardianship as an incapacitated person,” according to the DA’s report. Her husband lived at the apartment until his death on September 1, 2022.
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The day after his death, Mateo “deposited the first of twenty-six checks he stole from the teacher.” He wrote most of those checks from the teacher’s bank account to himself, frequently writing made up explanations in the memo lines. There was also one $3,000 check he wrote to himself from the husband’s account.
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Mateo also stole from the teacher’s annuity and pension, and stole a form mailed to the teacher to submit falsified information to the Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of New York (TRS). He went so far as to call the TRS pretending to be the 91-year-old teacher. “After the first call failed, MATEO attempted to change his voice to sound like an older woman in the second call,” according to the DA’s office.
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“Public service retirees are among the most vulnerable population in our City. In my capacity as the Inspector General for TRS, we will continue to aggressively investigate and, as here with the help of our partners, prosecute those who would take advantage of and defraud elderly retirees and their families,” said Special Commissioner Anastasia Coleman. “There can be no tolerance for this type of fraud in any of our retirement systems. I would like to thank our partners at the Manhattan DA’s office, especially those from the Major Economic Crimes Bureau, and our colleagues at TRS, for their efforts and assistance in this matter.”
Mateo’s is facing charges of grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, identity theft, falsifying business records and more.
Sounds to me like her guardian was not watching the store. I hope they were able to recover most of the money.
Throw the book at this guy and lock him up for a long, long time. This is an awful, awful thing to do to a vulnerable elderly couple, and now to the surviving spouse. I don’t know how much money he hasn’t spent yet, but addition to getting back every penny they can, I hope they confiscate everything he purchased with that stolen money. There should be a special place in hell for people like this.