An Upper West Side doorman is accused of stealing nearly $480,000 from a retired teacher and her husband after the woman moved into a nursing home and later died — once disguising his voice to sound like hers as part of the shifty scheme, Manhattan prosecutors said.
Alfredo Mateo, 38, allegedly started preying on the woman while she was under a court-ordered guardianship due to incapacitation while her spouse still lived at their apartment at 380 Riverside Drive before he died in September 2022.
The day after his death, Mateo, of Yonkers, began depositing the first of 26 checks he swiped from the teacher, writing most of the checks to himself from the victim’s bank account, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office alleged.
He also allegedly stole $3,000 from the husband’s account.
While draining the couple’s coffers, he then allegedly schemed to take money from the teacher’s annuity and pension that she earned from her service as a city educator.
Mateo dug through a teachers’ retirement form mailed to the apartment that her personal information was on to submit five false forms to the retirement system between May 5, 2023 and Oct. 12, 2023, prosecutors said.
Two of the forms were even submitted after the teacher died in July 2023 that led to the payout of her annuity and sought to switch her direct deposit to Mateo’s bank account, according to the district attorney’s office.
He also is accused of stealing several pension checks that were sent to the teacher after she died.
Mateo tried twice calling the Teachers’ Retirement System to switch the phone number on her membership, and after failing the first time, attempted to change his voice to sound like the woman, who was 91 at the time, according to prosecutors.
Overall, Mateo allegedly stole a whopping $477,685, prosecutors said.
“Those who take advantage of the access entrusted in them to target older community members and steal from hardworking New Yorkers will be held accountable,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.
Mateo is facing seven felony counts, including second-degree grand larceny, second-degree criminal possession of stolen property, first-degree identity theft, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and related charges, the district attorney’s office said.
Attempts to reach Mateo on Wednesday night were unsuccessful. His lawyer, James Magee, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.