Police on Long Island have arrested a man who posed as a U.S. Marshal as he cheated a woman he met on a dating website out of $3,200 by saying his car had been repossessed.
Jose Ruela, 44, was arrested Thursday after running the scheme on the woman on over a week this summer. He's charged with grand larceny, possession of a forged instrument and criminal impersonation.
Police say the man gave his 44-year-old victim a fake name and said he was a U.S. Marshal and a retired NYPD officer. When they met in Winston Park on July 24, he told the woman that his car had been repossessed and convinced her to lend him money. In exchange for the cash, police say the man gave the woman a forged check and a copy of a title to a car he no longer owned.
When the woman tried to get the money back on Aug. 2, he told her to cash the check. When she took it to the bank, tellers told her it was fraudulent.
Ruela will be arraigned Friday. It's not known whether the man has an attorney.