A 56-year-old Florida man was arrested for impersonating billionaire Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and an ally of incoming US president Donald Trump, in an attempt to con a 74-year-old Texas woman out of at least $250,000. according to police.
Jeffrey Arthur Moynihan Jr. was arrested at his home Tuesday night and charged with “grand larceny.”
The fraud case
The defendant, as reported by the New York Post, allegedly contacted the woman in 2023 via Facebook, pretending to be the CEO of Tesla and SpaceXElon Musk. He managed to convince her to trust him with her money, promising that she would receive a profit of $55 million from her “investment”.
According to the victim’s husband, the man pulled away from the woman altogether about $600,000.
Bradenton police were tipped off about the case by authorities in Frisco, Texas, who were investigating a similar scam. The survey showed that almost half of the woman’s money were deposited into bank accounts belonging to Moynihan and to his company, Jeff’s Painting and Pressure Washing LLC.
How he “earned” the victim’s trust
According to the Authorities, the perpetrator, or perhaps his accomplices, “informed” the victim about the daily life of “Elon”, using details from recent news to establish a relationship of trust with the victim.
“Victim Really Thought He Was Friendly With Elon Musk”a police spokesman said.
“When Elon proposed to her to invest in his businesses, she made several transactions over a period of several months”he added.,
The arrest and allegations of the perpetrator
During the arrest, the assailant, shirtless, repeatedly asked: “Grand theft for what?”.
Moynihan claimed that the $250,000 he received they were meant for a “girlfriend” of hiswith whom he had only online contact, leaving open the possibility that he himself was a victim of fraud.
The investigation remains open as authorities in Texas try to track down where the rest of the victim’s money ended up.
In a statement, Bradenton police said: “The real Elon Musk was busy with SpaceX’s latest launch and is not involved”.
Source: www.diaforetiko.gr
