Movers and takers
Feds: Dad-son duo scammed clients & held their stuff hostage
Movers, keepers.
The father-and-son owners of a group of shady Queens moving companies were arrested Tuesday over claims they held customers’ belongings hostage while demanding exorbitant tacked-on fees, officials said Tuesday.
Michael Nadel and son Yarin Nadel, of Fresh Meadows, are accused of a $100,000 fraud scheme for allegedly tacking on the unexpected fees, often upwards of 10% of the original estimate, authorities said. If customers refused to pay, the Nadels would threaten to sell or auction off their belongings.
The Nadels solicited outof-state customers making state-to-state moves through online ads, according to a civil complaint filed in March.
Jake Hammock, 31, a former Army captain, hired a company owned by the Nadels for a move from Washington D.C. to Salt Lake City last year. When he refused to pay sudden extra fees the company refused to deliver his belongings.
“I did not have any furniture for the first 11 months,” he said of his move. “I ended up having to buy another bed set”
“The furniture was finally delivered over an agreement through the courts,” he added. “A few items never made it”
“They had my [Army] dress uniforms from previous years of service, and that was one of the main items I wanted back,” he added. “A stone mug from my deployment in Afghanistan was returned damaged.”
The six companies owned by the Nadels misrepresented the number of moving trucks they registered through the
U.S. Department of Transportation as well as the number of movers who would transport goods and the size of the vehicles, according to a complaint filed in Brooklyn Federal Court Tuesday.
“They had my stuff for about two months. The worst of it was the not knowing [what would happen],” said 47-year-old Angela Bynum, who hired one of the Nadels’ companies, Moving State to State NY Inc., last year to help her relocate from Virginia to Washington.
Bynum said she was presented an initial quote of $4,800. But once her items were loaded in the moving truck, she was ordered to hand over an additional $3,000 in cash. When she refused, they threw her belongings in storage.
“[I called] them daily to find out where my stuff was, which they wouldn’t tell me,” Bynum said. “One of their ‘customer service’ reps wound up yelling at me on the day before Thanksgiving [that] she was the only one working and didn’t have any answers for me.”
She got her stuff back after two months after threatening legal action, she said.
The Nadels were charged Tuesday with conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false statements. Both father and son were each released on $20,000 bond.
The father and son owned and operated Around the Clock Moving Services, Direct Van Lines Services., State to State Moving NY, Green Peace Transportation, Moving State to State and State to State Moving Group, all based in Queens.