Westchester Man Pretending To Be Real Estate Broker Scammed Thousands, Police Say

Ricardo Gonzalez, of Tarrytown, was arrested by Irvington Police Department detectives and arraigned in four unrelated fraud cases.

In all cases, Gonzalez misrepresented himself as a licensed real estate broker to renters of properties located in the Village of Irvington, police said. 

Gonzalez used Hotpads.com Trulia.com Craigslist.org and Zillow.com to bypass MLS (Multiple Listing Service) to find potential victims.

• On April 1, 2019 a 46-year-old woman, interested in an apartment rental on Main Street in Irvington, provided Gonzalez with a broker’s fee of $2,300 and an application fee of $100, police said. The victim subsequently learned Gonzalez is not a licensed broker and not entitled to those fees, but was able to rent the apartment from the owners.
• On April 23, 2019 a 26-year-old woman, interested in an apartment rental on North Eckar Street in Irvington, provided Gonzalez with a broker’s fee of $1,800, according to police. The victim subsequently learned that Gonzalez is not a licensed broker and not entitled to those fees but was able to rent the apartment from the owners.
• On July 18, 2019 a 42-year-old woman, interested in an apartment rental on Main Street in Irvington provided Gonzalez with a brokers/holding fee of $2,200 and an application fee of $100, police said. The victim did not get the rental apartment and when she requested the $2300 in fees to be returned, Gonzalez provided her with a check which was denied because of insufficient funds with which the victim incurred additional fees, according to police.
• On July 26, 2019 a 57-year-old man, interested in the same apartment rental on Main Street as the third victim, provided Gonzalez with a broker’s fee of $2,300, according to police. The victim did not get the rental apartment and when he requested the $2300 in fees to be returned, Gonzalez refused to answer call, texts and emails.

The investigation is ongoing and other potential victims are being asked to contact police if they feel that they were defrauded. 

This Irvington PD is investigating a claim that undocumented immigrants have been defrauded by Gonzalez, but are afraid to report the crimes to the police. 

"The Irvington Police would like to stress to those victims that their status in the United States would not be of any concern nor will they even be asked their status," Irvington Police said. "It is believed that the defendant operated in numerous jurisdictions throughout Westchester and victims should report any crimes to the police agency where the crimes occurred."

Gonzale was remanded to the Westchester County Jail on $15,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond.

Any victims in Irvington are requested to call 914-591-8080 or come to the Irvington Police Department at 85 Main St. in Irvington.

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