February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Jim Smith
BOSTON – A brazen scam artist took exploitation of Irish students to a new level last week when he entered an apartment building in Brookline, found a set of keys to a vacant apartment, and ended up renting the apartment to three unsuspecting Irish students.
The bizarre chain of events began last Monday when George Moses, 25, of Cambridge allegedly told Jane Woodlock, Elizabeth Prior and Aoife O’Mahoney that he was an independent realtor and would sublease the vacant apartment to the students for the summer. The young women, here on a summer work visa, gave Moses $3,450 for the apartment later that day .
On Tuesday, the women returned from work to the apartment and discovered that their belongings had been removed by the building manager. When they learned that they were the victims of a cruel and costly hoax, the students contacted the Boston police.
Detectives Arthur O’Connell and Kevin Mullen of the Brighton station then devised a sting operation in which the women, all in their early 20s, contacted Moses on his cellular phone, asking him if he could find them a more suitable apartment. They agreed to give him an additional $750 for more desirable accommodations.
On Thursday, Moses was arrested at a street corner in Brighton while attempting to make the transaction with the students. On Friday, he was arraigned in Brighton District Court on charges of larceny over $250 and attempting to commit larceny. He is being held in jail on $30,000 cash bail set by Judge Albert Burns.
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According to David Falcone of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Moses had 10 outstanding warrants at the time of his arrest last week. Those charges include forgery, writing bad checks, trespassing, resisting arrest and assault and battery on a police officer. He is due back in court at the end of July.
The students, who are reportedly reluctant to discuss their plight publicly, have been assisted by their friends and employers in obtaining housing and other forms of support.
In addition, the offices of the Irish Consulate in Boston and the Union of Students International Travel, which handles the J-1 visa program, are maintaining an active involvement in the case.