A blind homeless man who stole an entire Brooklyn apartment building from a younger man with the same name fooled government agencies into believing he was the owner, prosecutors said Friday.
The dreadlocked Ralph Baker, 64, transferred ownership of a Fort Greene property belonging to clean-cut Ralph Baker, 47, into his own name in 2010, prosecutors said in opening statements at his trial.
When Baker was caught and thrown into Rikers Island last year, he sprang himself by putting up the property belonging to the younger Baker — whose life was turned upside-down as he was dragged into court to prove his identity.
The sightless scammer was even spotted using his collapsible cane to jimmy the door of the Fort Greene building by a woman who lived there.
“She saw him walk by but she didn’t move so he wouldn’t see her,” prosecutor Richard Farrell said in court.
“He took his cane, stuck it through the mail slot and used it to open the door.”
Baker took advantage of multiple government agencies to keep the scam going.
For example, Baker successfully asked the borough president’s office of topography to change the address of the Fort Greene building, prosecutors said.
He also got Brooklyn family court to grant him an order of protection against the woman who saw him break in, prosecutors said.
And he even talked the Brooklyn DA’s Office into investigating the younger Ralph Baker in 2009.
“I thought Mr. Baker’s complaint situation was very compelling,” testified Anthony Barosi, the DA employee who took Baker’s complaint.
“He was blind. I felt bad for him.”