Metuchen Man Indicted on Charges of Stealing Money From Sandy Victims in Middlesex County

An alleged con artist who was already being held on fugitive warrants out of Georgia has been indicted on charges of stealing money from Superstorm Sandy victims from Middlesex County by not delivering on promised low-cost housing or cars after taking about $55,000 from 13 victims, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced on Wednesday.

David Scott Ruddy, 32, of Metuchen, was indicted by a state grand jury on 10 counts of third-degree theft by deception following an investigation conducted by the Woodbridge Police Department, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the Division of Criminal Justice, Hoffman said.

“We charge that Mr. Ruddy ruthlessly preyed on people whose homes and cars were damaged or destroyed by Superstorm Sandy,” Hoffman said in a prepared statement. “While these victims were at their most desperate and vulnerable, he allegedly stole the money they needed to put their lives back together, leaving some of them without a permanent place to live to this day.”

Ruddy, a.k.a. David Castro, and David Gartman, is alleged to have impersonated a Red Cross worker or law enforcement officer and visited temporary shelters in Middlesex County, including one at Rutgers University in New Brunswick and one in Old Bridge, following Superstorm Sandy, Hoffman said.

Falsely portraying himself as being an official with the Attorney General’s Office at times, Ruddy allegedly promised victims low-cost apartments, condos or houses he claimed to own or control, as well as low-cost cars he said he bought at police auctions, Hoffman said.

Ruddy allegedly collected the money from seven victims in need following Sandy and never delivered on his promises, Hoffman said.

He also targeted five others in need for reasons other than Sandy, Hoffman said. One such victim was in need of furniture, and he offered to order it for her, for costs ranging between $1,000 and $9,000, Hoffman said.

He met six victims at shelters, and three more through people at the shelters, Hoffman said. He met the final four victims in other ways.

He allegedly kept contact with them, and invited them to a second-floor office above a law firm on Rahway Avenue in Woodbridge to sign false contracts for housing or vehicle purchases, Hoffman said.

“Working with the Woodbridge Police Department, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and other agencies, we have charged Ruddy with a string of frauds,” Division of Criminal Justice Director Elie Honig said.  “We’ve formed a working group including the Division of Criminal Justice, the Division of Consumer Affairs, the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, the State Police and the county prosecutors to target Sandy-related fraud.  We will aggressively pursue con artists to protect the people of New Jersey as they recover and rebuild.”

If convicted, Ruddy faces three-to-five years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

Ruddy has been lodged in Middlesex County Jail since Jan. 26 on a detainer relating with criminal charges out of Georgia, Hoffman said.