Colonia Couple Arrested on $40K Hurricane Sandy Scam
Woodbridge authorities allege that Christine Winters and Michael Daddario made thousands by taking deposits on rental housing that didn't exist.
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A Colonia couple charged with bilking would-be renters out of thousands in deposits for homes they never obtained may have gotten a big boost from Hurricane Sandy.
The hurricane that caused so much dislocation for families has caused a tightening of the rental market in some parts of the state, and that's where Christine Winters, 46, really started to expand a rental scam by posting housing ads on Craigslist, officials charge.
By offering impossibly good rental deals at cheap prices, Winters allegedly defrauded more than 40 people to the tune of $40,000, said Woodbridge Police Captain Roy Hoppock.
Police took note as they began to receive complaints about a woman who took deposits for housing that didn't exist, and then disappeared with their money. Winters had been initially arrested in July on two counts of theft by deception.
It was after Hurricane Sandy hit the area in late October that Winters allegedly upped the Craigslist postings and deposits she took. She was again arrested and charged twice in November with several more charges of theft by deception for the same scam before the last arrest on December 9, Hoppock said.
Michael Daddario, 41, who lives at the same address in Colonia as Winters, was also arrested on December 6 and charged with ten counts of theft by deception.
In one of the Craigslist ads, Winters allegedly offered a three-bedroom 1,750 sq. ft.Cape Cod house with a fenced yard, finished basement, and new appliances for a rent of $1,350 a month. The ad also said that pets were welcome, something not that easy to find in rental housing.
The same phone number in the Craigslist scam ad was also used for other business pursuits. A Google search revealed that the phone number was used in October to sell sex services on Classifriedads.com.
That ad, posted with pictures of a scantily-clad young woman, said that she was 19 years old and would "do it all" for a price - and a down payment before she'd show up for the paid date.
"...[Y]ou gotta send me something to secure your appointment, even if it's just $20," the ad said.
Both Winters and Daddario are being held on the theft by deception charges at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Facility in North Brunswick. Bail for Winters was set at $800,000, and $420,000 for Daddario, Hoppock said, with no ten percent option.
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cathy
8:45 am on Thursday, December 13, 2012
You would think that if they just acquired $40 thousand, they could buy some new clothes. LOL
Lori Lewkowitz
9:17 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012
Did they really think they could have gotten away with this crime?
Hilton Parker
10:15 am on Thursday, December 13, 2012
What a couple of maggots! I'll bet they already blew the 40K so the victims are never gonna' see their money again.
Mary Aquila
11:37 am on Thursday, December 13, 2012
I love all those comments. I think they should be sent to an island and have to scavenge just to eat for the rest of their lives. This is the garbage and worse we
waste our tax dollars on. Disgusting.
John Porcellana
12:23 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012
They should burn in hell. What trash!
Will Freedom
12:53 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012
Anyone who takes advantage of people in need should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. That includes the greedy gas station and hotel owners who jacked prices up after Sandy too.
BobDee
1:13 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012
Sad. o_0
Dave
3:49 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012
Hopefully they get prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Shoregal
4:20 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012
Bringing white trash to a whole new level. Let them rot in jail.
Marion Davies
5:13 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012
The should do jail time with long term community service at the shore cleaning up the disaster without a mask or gloves.
Jaime Ravaioli
8:55 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012
My roommate and I are unfortunately a victim of this couples crime! They deserve to rot in jail! They are never going to beable to afford to pay everyone back not only the money but the aggravation they put us through!!
Jaime Ravaioli
8:56 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012
Also this wasn't just a "sandy" crime they have been doing this to anyone and everyone they can get their hands on!
Melissa
10:44 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012
Well...... on top of scamming us meeting my 2 children (4 & 5 years) twice, having them pick out their bedrooms, taking money from us I am very happy to see that everyone feels the same way I do...they are scumbag whores! She gave us this awfully sad story that her kids where failing school and living with their dad when in reality they didn't want nothing to so with that piece of shit...Amazing thing they did not look like that one bit....Well shit happens so happy to see them locked up and miserable. She is so stupid she could have taken the money and be on some island right now dumb ass people! There is a special place in hell for them!
Al McDorman
2:48 pm on Friday, December 14, 2012
What part did their addictions play in this?
JAY
10:15 am on Monday, December 17, 2012
--Im happy they are locked up but it doesnt help much that my boyfriend and i are now out of a place to live for us and his 7year daughter and completely out of money that was our last literally!!!-- she completely runied !!! our Christmas and New Year I cant stand to see her face on any of these news channels it makes me sick everytime!!! i still cant believe it she and her boyfriend/husband even had a beer with my boyfriend and laughed with us while they took our money so heartless and shameless ..... and it went all to what drugs?!?! "im disgusted"