By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A would-be Manhattan renter showed up to what he thought was his new apartment only to find it already occupied by a tenant who had no intention of moving out.
Turns out the would-be renter was the victim of a con perpetrated by a man named Lawrence Paul, police told the New York Post.
Paul, 49, posed as a real estate agent and toured the man around an apartment on East 116th Street this past June, offering to rent him a similar apartment on another floor, the Post said.
The man decided to rent the apartment and paid Paul $2,900 as a deposit, according to the paper.
On move-in day, when the man discovered he'd been tricked, he found no sign of Paul, the Post reported.
Paul was arrested on Monday and charged with grand larceny, the paper said.
