New father Jorge Ordonez said he wound up falling prey to a rental scam shortly after he arrived in Westchester.
The scam was allegedly staged by Jeffrey Pena, who is accused of posting Spanish ads in Laundromats across the county featuring a cheap, too-good-to-be-true apartment rental.
After he took two month’s rent from would-be tenants, the tenants say they were never allowed to move in.
Mount Pleasant police say officers arrested Pena Thursday morning, one week after Turn To Tara exposed the allegations. He was slapped with eight felony counts of scheme to defraud in the first degree.
Police say Pena specifically targeted undocumented residents and threatened to call ICE when victims asked for their money back.
News 12’s Tara Rosenblum spoke by phone with a handful of Pena’s alleged victims. They said they were surprised and grateful to learn of his arrest.
Pena has not returned calls for comment from News 12.