Trio of Asian Con Women Swipe $40G Worth of Jewelry from 81-Year-Old Woman on LES

Don’t tell anyone but the life of a crime reporter can be a little dull sometimes.

Once in a while, something unusual comes to light and this is one of those times. Our Town Downtown spied it on an NYPD Detective Bureau wanted poster taped to a utility box on Water Street between Beekman Street and Peck Slip.

While the crime of Grand Larceny is commonplace, the modus operandi—a classic confidence game— and identity of the suspected perpetrators—two masked Asian females, assisted a third female accomplice—was anything but.

In the plain language of the Detective Bureau:

”On October 2, 2024, at approximately 1440 [2:40 p.m.] hours, the elderly victim was approached by two unknown Asian females in front of 55 Fulton Street.”

This address is that of the Fulton Market, a grocery which sited in a plaza just south of South Bridge Towers housing complex. The wanted poster’s text continues:

”The perpetrators escorted the CV [crime victim] to a third female who convinced her to bring all her personal jewelry to be blessed to help heal her husband.”

A historical constant, phony faith healers also feature in Manhattan native Herman Melville’s brilliant and uproarious proto-modernist 1857 novel, The Confidence Man: His Masquerade. For a clear-eyed review of the variety and techniques of con artists, David W. Maurer’s 1940 book, The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man remains a classic in the field.

Again, the wanted poster:

”The CV provided the females with her gold jewelry to be blessed to help her husband when she got home she discovered her jewelry was no longer in the bag.”

The story, which raises innumerable questions, starting with how the victim (the “mark”) was targeted, doesn’t end there.

The official police report, provided by NYPD adds some astonishing details:

“There is a report on file for Grand Larceny in the confines of the 1st Precinct. An 81-year-old female reported to police that... she was approached by an unknown female #1 in front of 55 Fulton Street who told her that she knew a ‘doctor’ who heals sick people.

Another unknown female #2 joined them and the complainant agreed to walk with them to the vicinity of Gold Street and Platt Street.

Female #3 met them at the location and said that she was the ‘doctor’s’ relative and that the complainant needed to bring cash and gold for a blessing for healing.

The complainant went home, put her jewelry in a bag and then returned to Gold Street where she gave her jewelry to the three unknown women for a blessing.

The women then returned the jewelry bag and the complainant returned home. When she opened the bag she saw that there were two water bottles and no jewelry.

There are no arrests and the investigation is ongoing.”

The stolen jewelry is valued at approximately $40,000.