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Read the press release here.

Fundraising Campaign Launched for Victims of Inwood Housing Scam

 Ana Villega, Evelyn Hernandez and Elsa Martinez (left to right) stand with Villega's daughters and Martinez's son in front of the building they once hoped to call home.
Ana Villega, Evelyn Hernandez and Elsa Martinez (left to right) stand with Villega's daughters and Martinez's son in front of the building they once hoped to call home.
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DNAinfo/Lindsay Armstrong

INWOOD — A local resident has launched an online fundraising campaign to help several families who lost thousands of dollars in an affordable housing scam.

Richard Le, an Inwood resident, started a GoFundMe campaign for the families after reading about their plight on DNAinfo New York. He hopes to raise $9,000, enough to reimburse three families who were allegedly defrauded out of thousands of dollars by a phony leasing agent.

In early January, three families reported that they had given about $2,700 each to Jennifer Ricardo with the understanding that she would secure them apartments at 552 Academy St., a newly renovated affordable housing development.

However, units in the building are only available through a lottery run by the city.

Ricardo went so far as to draw up faux leases and give out non-working keys, the families and officials said. She then disappeared with the families’ money. Officials said they believe she may have fled to the Dominican Republic. 

A police source said Thursday that several more victims have come forward since a Monday press conference to discuss the scam, with the number now standing at about 10.

Le noted that he would distribute the money among all the victims.

The 41-year-old said the issue resonated with him because his parents immigrated to the United States from Vietnam with him when he was an infant.

“This particular story angered me because this is totally something that someone could have done to my parents,” he said. “You don’t speak English, and someone who speaks your language comes to you and says, ‘I’m going to get you an apartment,’ and then runs off with the money.”

One of the families said they were forced to enter the city’s shelter system in part due to the money they lost. The other two families said they lost thousands of dollars in hard-earned savings.

Le plans to give all the money raised to the victims through the auspices of a community organization or elected official, he said. He will keep the campaign running through the end of the month.

Le, a graphic designer and photographer, has been involved in other community fundraisers in the past.

In 2012, he helped raise a few thousand dollars for local businesses that were destroyed in a fire. Le and other organizers distributed the money to Dichter Pharmacy, Furry Fiends and Bread and Yoga, with help from the nonprofit Inwood Community Services. 

The owners of all three businesses confirmed that they or their employees had received thousands of dollars in donated funds through that campaign.

Le said that the response has not been as enthusiastic this time around.

“Some people have left trolling comments on GoFundMe and said things like, ‘It’s these women’s faults for trying to break the rules and being greedy.”

But Le disagreed.

“Obviously she was preying on these women because they don’t speak English and didn’t necessarily understand the city’s system with the housing lottery.”