Man in Trouble After Alleged Fraud Attempt
(ConservativeHub.com) – The Sarasota County Sherriff’s Office released a report on November 2 about an attempted fraudster, Robert Schnepf. The man allegedly committed his crime under the alias Robert Banagino. Authorities say he posed as a multi-millionaire and tried to make purchases totaling more than $23 million and a donation of $3 million.
While using the name Banagino, the man worked with a realtor to buy two properties over the course of a few days in late October — one of the properties was $17.5 million, and the other was $5.2 million. After that, he went to a dealership and bought a car, which he appeared to mistakenly sign for as “Robert Schnepf.” Shortly after that, he met up with sportscaster Dick Vitale and promised $3 million for his cancer charity, the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
— Ashwani kumar (@foxnewsashwani) November 3, 2022
It didn’t take long for the authorities to catch onto Schnepf’s alleged deception. Now, he’s being charged for trying to defraud someone for an amount greater than $50,000, according to the sheriff’s office report.
Axios reported that police said Schnepf declined to take a picture with Vitale when he went to the sportscaster’s home to pledge a hefty donation. Vitale posted on Twitter after Schnepf’s arrest, saying he was “devastated & heartbroken” that he had been lied to.
According to the sheriff’s office, this wasn’t Schnepf’s first offense. He was reportedly on probation and had been arrested previously in both Florida and New York.
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