In ‘Jeopardy!’ for plunder
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HE WAS A lowlife living the high life — with a stolen bankroll.
A heartless home health care aide pilfered $335,000 from an elderly Manhattan couple, funding a lavish two-year spending spree on Florida vacations and tickets to the ballet and Broadway shows, prosecutors charged Thursday.
Once-trusted Winston Nguyen, 30, robbed a 96-year-old blind man and his 92-year-old wife while tending to the faltering pair at their Upper East Side apartment, according to an indictment.
“We felt so sad for this couple,” said a worker at their luxury Park Ave. building. “They trusted him so much. He betrayed them. He was posing as a big shot, as a millionaire.”
Nguyen — who won $10,000 as a one-episode champion on “Jeopardy!” in 2014 — was arrested inside the victims’ ninth-floor apartment.
He pleaded not guilty to charges, including grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and identity theft.
His replacement told the Daily News that Bernard and Florence Stoll were pleased with the indictment.
“Just hearing all the stories, my heart sank with theirs,” said the new aide. “Today was a little gratification for all they’d been through. I’m very happy for them.”
The elderly duo’s daughterin-law exposed the insider thieving after noticing unusual charges on the nonagenarian couple’s credit card bill this past May.
The defendant appeared in court wearing a dark suit, white shirt and pink tie for a hearing where he was released without bail. Prosecutors unsuccessfully aruged for Nguyen to be held on $100,000.
The accused scammer concocted a detailed swindle to systematically line his pockets with the stolen funds between 2015 and this year. Prosecutors say Nguyen wrote himself more than $200,000 in checks, used the victims’ bank accounts and credit cards to spend another $100,000 — and even created a bogus email account to pose as their son.
Nguyen went as far as diverting the couple’s bank and credit card statements to his residence and blocking calls from creditors on their home phone, authorities said.
Bernard Stoll, who lived with his wife in their apartment for decades, once served on the board of directors at the building where co-ops sell for $5 million.
In August and September 2016, three JetBlue airline tickets worth more than $900 were purchased in Nguyen’s name using the elderly wife’s Bank of America card, a criminal complaint charged.
Prosecutors said he also used the money to purchase pricey tickets to Broadway and the ballet.
Nguyen, during his “Jeopardy!” appearance, confessed that his ballet obsession led him to collect pointe shoes signed by famous ballerinas.
“Sorry, no comment,” Nguyen told a News reporter before closing his apartment door.
Nguyen starting working for the couple back in 2009, assisting the pair with their daily routine.
The building employee said Nguyen would walk with the elderly couple or carry their groceries, and he would read the online news to the sightless husband.
We felt so sad for this couple. They trusted him so much. He betrayed them. WORKER AT PARK AVE. BUILDING WHERE COUPLE LIVED