Teen conned old man out of $1m

2006-10-06 17:36

New York - A teenage woman conned an 85-year-old man out of as much as $1m during a two-year relationship, and he may not have been her only victim, prosecutors said.

Louis Bruno of Queens said he met Natasha Marks two years ago outside a supermarket when she was 18 and he was 83. Bruno was hooked after Marks flirted with him and complimented his jacket.

In the relationship that followed, Marks - whom Bruno knew only as Sandy - talked him out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, at times claiming she needed to pay medical bills, prosecutors said. She also persuaded him to grant her power of attorney and used that to take out an estimated $550 000 mortgage on his house, according to prosecutors.

"I took good care of her," Bruno told the Daily News newspaper. "She said she needed the money because she was sick. That's what she'd say."

Could face life in prison

Marks was arraigned on Thursday on fraud and theft charges, including a hate crime charge related to age-bias. She was ordered held on $500 000. Prosecutor Kristen Kane said Marks, a Queens resident, could face life in prison if convicted.

Her capture came after Bruno realised last month that his finances had shrunk dramatically - to $12 000 from nearly $400 000 - while looking at his bank papers. He confided in a neighbour who convinced him to contact authorities.

Marks is also accused of trying to con another senior she met outside an office supplies store in Queens, and prosecutors said she may have ties to a nationwide network of scammers. But Marks' defence lawyer is denying the charges.

"They might as well call it a billion dollars," lawyer John Scarpa told the Daily News.

Bruno, a retired toll-booth clerk and lifelong bachelor, said he had planned to give Marks an engagement ring.

"She lied about everything," he said.

- AP