Police are warning of a scheme that may be targeting the Indian-American community by defrauding people with false reports of housing foreclosures.
Police say Mahwish Chaudry of Piscataway defrauded a 76-year-old Linden man out of $9,000 by falsely telling him his house was in foreclosure.LINDEN -- A Piscataway woman faces charges of scamming a 76-year-old city man out of $9,000 in a scheme that authorities say may be targeting Indian-Americans.
Mahwish Chaudry, 31, was arrested Sept. 25 for the scheme in which she told the victim he was in danger of losing his home, police said.
Last May, Chaudry called the man claiming she was employed by a financial company and that his home was in foreclosure, said police Capt. James Sarnicki.
He said Chaudry then told him that she could drive him to the bank to make a cash withdrawal and turn the money over to her to save his house. The victim complied and gave Chaudry $4,000 in cash, the captain said.
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Several days later, the woman called the victim again and said they needed more money to prevent the foreclosure, Sarnicki said. He said this time Chaudry was accompanied by a second woman, and the two of them drove him to a local bank where he withdrew $5,000 and gave it to them.
The victim subsequently reported the incident to police and Detective Kenneth Mikolajczyk investigated the case and obtained an arrest warrant for Chaudry, Sarnicki said.
He said Chaudry was released pending a court hearing.
Police warned that this scam may be occurring in the Indian-American community and ask that any other victims come forward to their local police departments.
Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
