A Florida man has been arrested after impersonating tech billionaire Elon Musk and attempting to scam an elderly woman out of at least $250,000, police said.
Jeffrey Arthur Moynihan Jr. was arrested Tuesday night at his home in Bradenton and charged with grand larceny.
Reportedly operating under the guise of the CEO of Tesla and Space started sending.
Victims were allegedly promised a return on investment of $55 million.
Her husband reportedly told investigators that she had been defrauded out of a total of approximately $600,000.
Bradenton Police Detective Jim Kurla was alerted by authorities in Frisco, Texas, who were investigating a case in which a woman allegedly donated large sums of money to an organization posing as a tech billionaire, a department spokesperson said. received.
Nearly half of the funds were traced to a Bradenton bank, and the account was determined to belong to Moynihan, the spokesperson continued.
“The victim was convinced that she had actually invested her money in Elon Musk,” they said, adding that the scammer regularly told her how “Elon's” day was going with recent news updates. He pointed out that the article had explained it in detail. To build a relationship of trust.
“The victim felt that Elon was a genuine friend,” the spokesperson continued.
“After building a trusting relationship with her, Elon suggested that she invest in his business. She made multiple deals over a period of time.”
According to records obtained by authorities, the victim transferred $250,000 to accounts belonging to Moynihan and his business, Jeff's Painting and Pressure Washing LLC.
Body camera footage shows police approaching a shirtless Moynihan and telling him there is a warrant out for his arrest.
When he asked about the charges, she repeatedly asked, “What is grand theft?” — The police officer told him he would be briefed by detectives.
According to the bureau, Moynihan said during questioning that the $250,000 he obtained was for his girlfriend, with whom he had an entirely online relationship, and that Moynihan himself had been catfished and had moved on. There is a possibility that he may have been the victim of a fraud.
The investigation is ongoing, and authorities in the victim's home state are working to determine where the remaining money went.
“The real Elon Musk was involved in SpaceX's recent launches and is not under investigation by BPD,” Bradenton Police said in a press release.
