Manhattan
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A mini-Mormon Madoff allegedly swindled five congregants out of more than $56,000 in a real-estate scam after meeting the victims through their Inwood church, The Post has learned.
Richard Brodmerkel, 50, gained the trust of unsuspecting congregants at the Mormon Church on Dyckman Street and moved in with a churchgoer, sources said.
The con artist allegedly tricked his roommate and four others into giving him money for bogus real-estate investments by promising big returns.
The scammer vanished after telling his roommate he was headed out to the pharmacy, the sources said.
The roommate filed a missing-person report, and detectives discovered that the missing mooch hadn’t been to the drugstore for months, sources said.
Eventually, the alleged scammer did go to the pharmacy and workers called cops, who busted him on charges of grand larceny and scheming to defraud.
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A woman accused of an elaborate Hilton New York hotel scam surrendered to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Thursday.
Katia Gaton, of Washington Heights, allegedly promised a married couple and another woman jobs at the hotel on West 54th Street and Sixth Avenue in exchange for cash.
She said the husband and wife could become a doorman and a receptionist and the third woman could become a chambermaid if the suspect got kickbacks, authorities said.
The scammer met with the victims at the hotel, wore a Hilton identification card and had the victims complete job applications after an accomplice spread the word in an uptown supermarket that jobs were for sale, sources said.
Once the con artist had the application, she allegedly disappeared, returned and said the manager was busy.
She later told the dupes that they had been hired, then disappeared with more than $3,000, authorities said.
She pleaded not guilty to grand larceny and scheming to defraud.
Brooklyn
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A Coney Island man unleashed his pit bull on two cops after a neighbor complained that the dog was running loose in a housing project — then demanded a “proper burial” for the dog after cops shot it in self-defense, sources said.
James Wisher, 32, shouted a command to the dog as cops approached him in the building on West 31st Street at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, cops said.
The dog charged, the officers fired, and the owner fled, according to police.
When cops later found Wisher in his home, he allegedly barked at them, “How do I get my dog back? I want a proper burial!”
He was charged with menacing a police officer, attempted assault, criminal possession of a weapon, harassment and torturing and injuring animals.
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An enraged ex-employee was arrested for flipping out on his former boss in Midwood, authorities said.
Danny Rodriguez, 19, showed up at a restaurant on Coney Island Avenue near Avenue N at 12:10 a.m. Thursday and demanded money from the 20-year-old manager before tossing a chair at him and other staff, police said.
Rodriguez was charged with menacing and harassment.
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A manager for a Canarsie grocery store had former employees and fictitious people on her payroll, then wired money to her own accounts, authorities said.
Devon Dasilda, 25, was fired in November when the owner of Victoria’s Fine Foods, on East 100th Street, learned of the theft, sources said.
Bank of America helped cops track the thefts, which occurred from January 2009 through November 2011 and totaled $400,000, according to police.
Dasilda was busted Tuesday and charged with grand larceny, falsifying business records and petit larceny.
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A man driving through Elmhurst with a .45-caliber handgun and a butterfly knife was busted after being pulled over for bad driving, authorities said.
Lloyd Llamas, 31, was stopped in his Nissan at 12:20 a.m. on Feb. 22 after he turned without signaling at 48th Avenue and 69th Street, court papers state.
Llamas has a premises license for the firearm but not a carry license, court records state.
He also had two gun magazines with nine rounds in each, cops said.
He was charged with weapon possession and a traffic violation, said a spokeswoman for DA Richard Brown.
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A 50-year-old man was struck by a car and killed in Bayside, police said.
Mohinder Singh was hit by a 2000 Volkswagen at 5:53 p.m. Wednesday as he crossed Union Turnpike near Springfield Boulevard.
The driver, a 24-year-old woman, stayed at the scene and was not charged with a crime, police said.