Photo Courtesy of Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
“The NYPD has zero tolerance for corruption of any kind and the crimes this former officer is charged with represent a disgraceful violation of his oath of office and the public trust,” City Police Commissioner Shea said.
By Forum Staff
A former NYPD police officer has been charged with conning nearly a dozen would-be renters out of thousands of dollars. Burbran Pierre, 42, is accused running a scam offering to rent his own rented Ozone Park basement apartment between December 2020 and May 2021, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Friday.
Pierre, 42, of Minnesota, was arraigned Friday on a complaint charging him with grand larceny in the fourth degree, and two counts of scheme to defraud in the first degree. Pierre has been ordered to return to Court on Jan. 27, 2022.
According to the charges, nearly a dozen people responded to a Craigslist advertisement online touting a basement apartment available for rent. On March 20, 2020, a woman spotted the ad and responded indicating she was interested in renting the basement unit on 95th Street in Ozone Park. The defendant showed the apartment to the victim, who agreed on a year-long lease and signed the paperwork. A couple of weeks later, the woman used a mobile app to send Pierre $2,300. However, when it was time to move in on June 1, Pierre allegedly told her the previous renter had not left yet. The victim eventually asked for a refund of her $2,300. Pierre allegedly gave her a check for the amount she was owed, but the check was returned by the bank for insufficient funds.
DA Katz said the defendant allegedly repeated this scenario with 10 other prospective renters. Just before each move-in date, Pierre would allegedly offer an excuse as to why the new renter could not move in, such as building code violations, plumbing issues, an infestation of mice or the current tenant had not yet vacated.
According to the charges, in April 2021 a woman gave the defendant $2,400 to cover the first month’s rent and security deposit. She was supposed to move in on May 1. But as that date approached, the defendant allegedly told the victim she could not move in and told her he would not be returning her money and that she would have to sue him to get her money back. Another female victim who’d allegedly been duped tried calling the defendant only to realize he had blocked her number on his phone.
Several weeks ago, Pierre retired from the NYPD and moved to Minnesota. He was arrested in
Minneapolis and returned to Queens on Thursday, Nov. 18.
DA Katz added that, if anyone believes they may have been victimized in a scheme of this nature, call her office at (718) 286-6560.
“The NYPD has zero tolerance for corruption of any kind and the crimes this former officer is charged with represent a disgraceful violation of his oath of office and the public trust,” City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said. “Our NYPD investigators in the Internal Affairs Bureau, together with prosecutors in the Queens District Attorney’s Office, worked tirelessly to ensure a measure of justice was achieved in this case.”
If convicted, Pierre faces up to four years in prison.
