A New Jersey woman with an extensive criminal history of scamming elderly men out of their money has claimed a new victim in Lower Gwynedd Township, according to police.
In July 2022, an 84-year-old man arrived at the Lower Gwynedd Police Department to file a report that he was the victim of fraud. The man told investigators that in December 2021, he had become lost in a parking lot at the King of Prussia Mall and was approached by a woman named “Linda Criter,” who offered to help him find his car.
Thinking he had made a new friend, he and “Criter” exchanged phone numbers and the two began meeting often for coffee or lunch in the Lower Gwynedd area, police said. A short period into their friendship, however, “Criter” began asking the man to loan her money, stating her assets were tied up in her deceased husband’s estate and she needed money for her wedding planning business as well as to pay contractors working on her real estate properties, according to charging documents.
Investigators said “Criter” told the man she did not have a bank account and each check would need to be made out to “John Gray.” From January 2022 through July 2022, the man provided “Criter” with 17 checks made out to “John Gray,” which amounted to a total of $116,250, police said.
An additional three checks were also pre-written by the man, totaling another $29,700, however police said they were voided before the money was removed from the account.
All of the checks were cashed at a check cashing store in Carteret, NJ, and upon review of their records, police determined that driver’s license used to crash the checks was “immediately recognized to be a fake identification card.”
It was later determined through investigation that “Linda Criter” was actually 61-year-old Brenda Miguel, of Cherry Hill, NJ, police said, adding that Miguel had been previously convicted in multiple states for theft by deception and similar charges in connection with schemes to deceive elderly men out of money via “feigning a friendship or romantic relationship.”
As a result of the investigation, Miguel has been charged with theft by deception – false impression, which is a second-degree felony. She’s currently in custody at county jail in lieu of $99,000 cash bail.
Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 16 at 10 a.m. in front of District Judge Suzan Leonard.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
See also:
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