A Florida man has been arrested after impersonating tech billionaire Elon Musk in a bid to rip-off an aged lady out of not less than 1 / 4 of one million {dollars}, in line with police.
Jeffrey Arthur Moynihan Jr. was arrested at his Bradenton residence Tuesday night time and charged with grand theft.
Whereas reportedly working beneath the guise of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, the 56-year-old businessman befriended the sufferer, a 74-year-old Texas resident, on Fb and started messaging her in 2023.
The sufferer was allegedly promised a $55 million return on funding.
Her husband reportedly informed investigators that she was conned out of some $600,000 in whole.
Detective Jim Curulla of the Bradenton police was tipped off by authorities in Frisco, Texas, who have been investigating an incident through which a lady had reportedly given a big sum of cash away to an entity posing because the tech billionaire, in line with a division spokesperson.
Almost half of that cash may very well be traced again to banks in Bradenton, and the accounts have been decided to belong to Moynihan, the spokesperson continued.
“The victim was convinced she had, in fact, invested her money with Elon Musk,” they stated, noting that the scammer, or scammers, would repeatedly transient her on how “Elon’s” day was going, working in particulars from current information tales to construct rapport.
“The victim felt like Elon really was her friend,” the spokesperson continued.
“After ‘Elon’ built trust with her, he suggested she invest in his businesses. She made several transactions over a period of time.”
Data obtained by authorities present the sufferer transferred $250,000 to accounts belonging to Moynihan and his personal enterprise, Jeff’s Portray and Stress Washing LLC.
Bodycam footage exhibits police approaching a shirtless Moynihan, informing him that he has a warrant out for his arrest.
When he asks in regards to the nature of the costs — repeatedly inquiring, “Grand theft of what?” — officers inform him that he might be briefed by a detective.
When questioned, Moynihan stated the $250,000 he obtained was for a girlfriend with whom he had a strictly on-line relationship, in line with the division, leaving open the chance that Moynihan himself had been catfished and was a sufferer of a separate rip-off.
The investigation is ongoing, and authorities within the sufferer’s residence state are working to find out the place the remainder of her cash went.
“The real Elon Musk was otherwise engaged with the most recent launch of SpaceX and is not under investigation by BPD,” Bradenton police stated in a press launch.
