Police say 47-year-old Lisa Ferkovich used as many as four different identities to steal money from several men in their 80s over the course of two years.
She was arrested two weeks ago in Bay Shore.
Authorities say she took as much as half a million dollars from one victim in North Babylon.
"The current indictment alleges crimes committed by the defendant when she befriended an 83-year-old man in a North Babylon supermarket this past summer and gained his trust," Suffolk Country District Attorney Thomas Spota said. "Our investigation found evidence she drained his bank accounts, accessed his mutual fund holdings, and rolled up $35,000 in bills using his credit cards."
Spota said Ferkovich is also known as Ruby Mitchell, Lisa Sideris and Lisa Brown. Ferkovich's criminal history shows four different dates of birth.
Ferkovich is also charged with ID theft in a separate case but a similar crime, bilking another man in his 80s by using his ID to buy three automobiles, including a new Mercedes.
"She was free on bond in that case when she met the North Babylon man in the grocery store this past July," Spota said. "Using different identities, she has scammed as many as four elderly men, possibly more, over the past two years in the New York metropolitan area, including New York County."
Ferkovich is charged with grand larceny third degree as a hate crime. It's the first case of it's kind to be tried as a hate crime against the elderly. Ferkovich is being held without bail.
