Margate, N.J., man admits to scamming nuns
A Margate, N.J., man pleaded guilty Friday to 17 counts of wire fraud in a scheme to separate members of the Dominican Sisters of the Rosary of Fatima from their money.
Adriano Sotomayor, 54, admitted to defrauding the sisters and others for a two and a half year period starting in May of 2009.
He was captured by the FBI Fugitive Squad in Las Vegas a year ago after spending months on the run.
His scheme worked like this: He’d get an elderly nun to believe she had been named beneficiary of an estate worth about $2.1 million, and that she needed to send money to pay for taxes and various legal and processing fees associated with the fictitious will — to him — where else? At various casinos in Atlantic City.
Sotomayor bilked at least $1.3 million out of more than 50 victims in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. over a two year period.
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