West Hempstead Property Used in Real Estate Fraud Scheme

An East Meadow man was arrested Saturday afternoon after allegedly using a real estate scheme to defraud several people out of more than $15,000.

According to Nassau County detectives, Jamel Smith, 38, of East Meadow, acted as a real estate agent between Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 and Wednesday, May 9, 2012. In that time he secured down payments for rental properties in Elmont, Hempstead and West Hempstead.

The exact address of the rental property in West Hempstead was not listed by Nassau Police.

An investigation by detectives from the Nassau County Police Department's Third and Fifth Squad, along with Hempstead Police, discovered that Smith would place an ad on Craigslist to arrange a meeting with the victims at which time he would secure a payment, police said.

This occurred at least eight different times for a loss of more than $15,000 to the victims, police said.

Smith was placed under arrest at his home at 3:50 p.m. Saturday without incident.

Smith is charged with two counts of grand larceny in the third degree, six counts of grand larceny in the fourth degree and defraud in the first degree. He will be arraigned on Sunday at First District Court in Hempstead.

Detectives ask anyone with information about this crime or any similar crimes to contact Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.

The arrest information was supplied by the Nassau County Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction.