Red Hook Woman Steals Hundreds Posing As Real Estate Agent: Cops

RED HOOK, BROOKLYN — A Red Hook woman who police say swindled more than $1,000 from would-be renters in a real estate scam was arrested Wednesday on larceny and impersonation charges.

Makhabbat Abdualiyeva, 24, was wanted for three separate incidents earlier this year where she posed as a real estate agent to collect "security deposits" on apartments she didn't have authority to rent, police said. She was charged two counts of petit larceny and two counts of second-degree criminal impersonation.

Abdualiyeva ran her first scam back in April, when a 22-year-old woman answered an online ad for an apartment to rent near Bay Parkway and 77th Street in Bensonhurs, according to police.

The woman gave Abdualiyeva $500 as a security deposit for the apartment rental but never saw the Red Hook woman again, police said.

Less than two hours later, Abdualiyeva met up with a 30-year-old woman who gave Abdualiyeva a $200 security deposit for the Bensonhurst apartment, according to police.

Then, in July, Abdualiyeva scammed yet another woman, this time for an apartment in Midwood near Avenue N and Ocean Parkway, police said.

The 25-year-old victim answered an online ad and ended up giving Abdualiyeva $700 for a security deposit when they met up, said police.

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