By Hank Russell
A West Hempstead woman has been arrested again for allegedly renting out a home that she did not own. This is the second such arrest she had in the past month.
According to Nassau County detectives, a 49-year-old woman claimed that she had coordinated a rental agreement for a home located on Meadowbrook Road with a male and female subject on July 17 at 3:03 p.m. The woman met with the subjects in person and provided the first month’s rent and a security deposit totaling $7,000. On July 18, she returned to the residence to collect paperwork, but was met with the actual homeowner, a 42-year-old male. He explained that he never rented the home to anyone, but noticed the lockbox located outside of the home was damaged and the key to the home was missing from inside.
After a thorough investigation, on August 19, detectives located Aurelia Soogea, 39, at 20 Hempstead Avenue in West Hempstead and placed her under arrest. During the investigation, Soogea allegedly provided the detectives with a fraudulent New York State driver’s license. The investigation is ongoing.
Police charged Soogea with Burglary in the Second Degree, Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, Possession of a Foreign Instrument in the Second Degree and Defraud in the First Degree. She was arraigned on August 20 at First District Court in Hempstead.
Soogea had been arrested before. As previously reported in Long Island Life & Politics, she allegedly executed a deed theft by targeting the residential property of a 75-year-old male. The investigation revealed Soogea allegedly fraudulently transferred the deed of the victim’s home located on Maple Street in West Hempstead to her own name by forging various documents.
After an extensive investigation, Soogea was located and placed under arrest without incident. She was also allegedly found to be in possession of numerous pills believed to be Oxycodone. It was also discovered that Soogea, who was living in Baldwin at the time, was allegedly renting out multiple residential properties that she does not own to families throughout Nassau County between July 8 and July 28.
Detectives are asking anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a similar incident to please contact Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS or the Third Squad at 516-573-6353. All callers will remain anonymous.