Man bilks bank, customers out of $100G, police say

Claiming to be a well-to-do businessman, an unemployed professional criminal bilked Commerce Bank and several people in Nassau, Suffolk and New York City out of nearly $100,000 since January 2007, police said.

Daniel V. Raymond, 39, a onetime East Rockaway resident whose current address is unknown, was arrested Friday and charged with falsifying business records, possession of a forged instrument, identity theft, defrauding and grand larceny, police said. He was to be arraigned Saturday in First District Court, Hempstead.

Nassau Det. Andrew Sether said Raymond presented himself well, dressed impeccably and drove a nice car, but that "he has an extensive criminal record from robbery to grand larceny. He's done some hard time."

"He would go to mainly minority neighborhoods for his 'marks,' at Burger Kings and bus stops," Sether said. "He'd say he was a successful businessman and he just wanted to pass on his good luck to others ... out of the goodness of his heart."

Raymond told his victims that he'd help them secure government grants, but to do that, they needed to establish good credit, police said. He gave them checks to deposit in new Commerce Bank accounts that he'd help them open, police said. But once the bogus checks were deposited, Raymond withdrew the cash from ATMs, police said. Friday, Commerce Bank told Sether that Raymond was at its Commack branch trying to open an account.

Only a very small portion of the $98,946.19 taken since January 2007 was recovered, and ultimately, the individuals who trusted Raymond will probably be liable for the bank's loss, Sether said.

By BY BILL MASON
Posted Monday, March 17, 2008

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