When Pretending to Be a NYPD Officer Goes Wrong!

V Foundation Multi-Millionaire Robert Banagino just bought a brand new Mercedes worth $132,000. Before that purchase, Banagino had also bought two Florida properties valued at millions of dollars, on the very same day. Banagino was a multimillionaire from New York visiting Florida on business, in an attempt to help clean up the damage from hurricane Ian. Banagino decided he really enjoyed Florida, and all that sunlight mustve put him

in a generous mood because even after the property purchases and the luxury car purchase, Banagino wanted to do more. He also wanted to do some charitable good in the world, which had the benefit of also being a tax write off. So he asked where he might make a donation, and the car salesman told him about the V Foundation. The foundation is a charity raising money for

pediatric cancer research, a notable worthy cause, associated with TV personality Dick Vitale. So Banagino decided to donate three million dollars to the worthy cause. The realtor who introduced Banagino to the car salesman, and by extension, Vitale, felt that his generosity was a little too good to be true. After a quick internet search, the realtor discovered that Banagino wasn't his real name, instead, it was Schnepf. She

also found out that Schnepf was on felony probation for fraud. The news broke the heart of Vitale, who was deeply moved by Banagino's $3 million donation. Schnepf was actually a penniless conman, and this con is only the latest in a history of conning anything from other charities to close personal friends. Robert Schnepf Robert Banagino's real names Robert Schnepf and he's a prolific fraudster with different faces

and identities. Hes like the many-faced god if the many-faced god is a 48-year-old grifter from Queens, New York. Schnepf is so prolific at scamming innocents that his victims even have a phrase for falling for his scams- getting Schnepf-ed. It's not the most elegant catchphrase in the world, but it does paint a picture. One of Schnepf's more recent scams is as abhorrent as its simple. He posed

as a struggling vet and milked free lodging, work, and food from sympathetic marks in the area. Unfortunately for our many-faced scammer, he was arrested by the police. Schnepfs arrest triggered a check on his identity and it was revealed that he had an outstanding warrant from 2008 in Florida. Once the news of his arrest got out, many other victims came forward to tell their Schnepf stories. Schnepfs

victims claimed that he would present himself as a wealthy personality in need of administrative assistance and had business relations with everyone from Rihanna to Heineken. One of his unfortunate victims, a 29-year-old woman named Kim Cuneo, said she even became his assistant and introduced him to her father, an executive at a luxury-jet charter company. Schnepf used his working relationship with Kim Cuneo and her father to order

about a million dollars worth of flight time, but he never paid the debt incurred. He also made Cuneo pay for several expensive dinners and bankroll his taste for Newport cigarettes and Red Bulls. According to Cuneo, these expenses totalled about three grand. Schnepf always gave the excuse that his fortune was tied up and that he would settle his debts once he got access to his money. Schnepf's

fraudulent operations were so extraordinary that by 2010 he had an impressive rap sheet that featured 24 liens and judgments, in addition to 20 drivers-license suspensions. But this was only the tip of the conning iceberg. Serial Scamming Schnepf first became known to local police after a botched burglary in Florida in April 2009. The warrant for his arrest stated that he broke into a woman's house with the

just scam for the necessities. He also had some pretty grand schemes as well. He once played the role of a wealthy businessman and got so recognized that he was invited to give a speech at a charity event. At the event, Schnepf promised about $3.5 million to fund a domestic violence shelter in the area. He was also invited to another charity event where he supposedly donated $50,000

right before claiming to be in a movie with Jessica Alba. Notoriety Unsurprisingly, Schnepf's antics gained him some notoriety. He became so notorious that he even drew the attention of Howard Thompson, the host of a local New York News Show named Help Me Howard. The show was hinged on confronting frauds such as Schnepf and helping their victims get some justice or closure. Once Thompson got wind of

Schnepf he began searching. Unfortunately for Thompson, Schnepf was arrested by the police and extradited to face charges in Florida just a couple of days later. No one knows what happened to the burglary case, but Schnepf got released from detention soon after. Instead of just laying low after getting released from custody, Schnepf immediately began scamming someone else. His mark this time was Marcus Matos, a New Jersey

resident who paid Schnepf $34,000 to renovate his home. Schnepf tore the home up and fled the scene after a local inspector shut the operation down. Thompson heard about the case and tracked Schnepf down to ask him about it on a segment for his show. Schnepf flat-out denied ever taking money from Matos, who was left with a destroyed home and a $34,000 hole in his bank account.

Robert Hart For a while, Schnepf's encounter with Howard Thompson generated online buzz, but even that buzz eventually died down. Once it did, our prolific fraudster met a 54-year-old Brooklyn native named Faith Gamali. Schnepf was introduced to Gamali by her realtor to help her clean out her home. Schnepf didn't introduce himself to her as Robert Schnepf though. Instead, he said his name was Robert Hart. During this

time Gamali was suffering from cancer and needed all the help she could get to clean out her house. Somewhere along the way, she started dating Schnepf. From there, Gamali introduced him to one of her friends Laura Maslin Osenni. According to Osenni, Schnepf was the model guy. He was so kind to her and her husband that they almost immediately became family. Not long after their meeting, Osenni

and her husband started making plans to move to Florida, and Schnepf made some plans of his own. When Osenni started making her plans, she learned two important things. The first was that her friend, and Schnepf's girlfriend, Gamali, was planning to move to Florida as well. The second was that Schnepf was a master plumber. Because Schnepf sold himself as a master plumber, Osenni took all the advice

he gave her about moving out. He told her that she needed a new AC unit, and also told her that she needed additional plumbing work to be completed over the next month. The bills for all of these totalled about $25,000. After collecting $25,000 from Osenni, Schnepf also collected an additional $30,000 from her husband for the same job, without Osenni knowing. Osenni eventually realized that she had

been scammed when Schnepf abruptly stopped taking her calls and stopped visiting her home. He cut off all communication with her without doing any of the jobs he was contracted to do. Two months later, Osenni and her husband filed a complaint about Schnepf at the police station. That kicked off an investigation that would eventually get him charged with a second-degree grand-theft felony and a misdemeanor charge of

acting as a contractor without a license. The court found Schnepf guilty of the charges against him and he was sentenced to probation for eighteen months and was required to pay $12,000 as restitution. As of right now, Osenni is yet to see a cent of the restitution he's supposed to pay. When Gamali learned of Schnepfs police trouble she promptly threw him out. Good riddance. But Schnepf wasnt

done. The Lieutenant After his episode with Osenni, Schnepf decided to move on to better things. In July 2020, right in the middle of the COVID pandemic, Schnepf was arrested once more for being up to no good. This time he was impersonating an FDNY Emergency Medical Services Lieutenant. The goal of this scam was to swindle Staten Island residents and business owners. Schnepf's scam was simple. He wore

the fake uniform and would approach people in public to tell them they violated some code or order. He would then request money to either fix the problem or look the other way. It was a cheap sort of scam, but it was just the sort of petty fraud that Schnepf excelled at. Aside from scamming people who believed he was a genuine FDNY lieutenant, he also used his

costume to steal from gas stations. He was fond of gassing his car and taking several items from gas stations. When asked for money, Schnepf would tell the storekeeper that he forgot his wallet at the FDNY station and would be right back to pay. Of course, he never came back. Schnepf was eventually arrested when Fire Marshalls observed him wearing the uniform and acting suspiciously in a public

park in Queens. This time he was charged with petty larceny, criminal impersonation of a public servant, and possession of a forged instrument. Robert Banagino By some miracle, Schnepf managed to get back on the streets after failing to appear in court for his trial. But this time, he had a new name, a new identity, and about a hundred million dollars in the bank. Schnepf reached out to

a realtor in Florida as Robert Banagino, and explained that he was interested in a couple expensive properties. She searched for his name in her realtor database and couldn't find anything about him. Despite that, and not wanting to miss an opportunity for a huge sale, she met up with Shcnepf anyway. Schnepf explained that he was in Florida for business as part of efforts for Hurricane Ian relief

after the storm had ravaged the state. The first property was a 23,450-square-foot plot that was originally listed for $18 million. After visiting the owners of the property, about a million was knocked off the asking price. Once that deal was underway, he immediately asked to see another property. This time it was a Mediterranean-style lakefront mansion just steps from Myakka River State Park. While the realtor was preparing

papers for that property, Schnepf mentioned that he also would love to get a Rolls-Royce. This made the realtor reveal that her father owned a Mercedes-Benz dealership. At the dealership, Schnepf decided to buy a Mercedes. After purchasing the vehicle, he asked the owner of the dealership where he could donate a couple of million for tax purposes, and that's how he got to know Dick Vitale. Schnepf promised

to donate $3 million to Vitale's charity, the V foundation, a pediatric cancer research institute. This naturally made Dick Vitale ecstatic as hes passionate about eradicating pediatric cancer. Soon after Schnepf made his pledge, the realtor who had arranged his property purchases started feeling uneasy about the whole business. So she decided to conduct exhaustive research into his person and discovered that Robert Banagino was none other than Robert

Schnepf, the shape-shifting fraudster. She quickly alerted the authorities and Schnepf soon found himself in police custody again. But would anything stick? If youre enjoying this story, definitely stay right on this video to watch our previous release about this serial scammer who scammed everyone around him! Caught This time, Schnepf couldn't run from the law. He was charged with one count of fraudulent use of fictitious personal identification

information. He was also charged with larceny and with engaging in a contracting business without a license for the Osenni case. Schnepf pleaded guilty to the first charge. He then made an open plea for the next two charges. In the end, he was sentenced to four years in prison for the first charges and the second two charges. The sentences are supposed to run concurrently. Aftermath In court,

Schnepf claimed that he did all his scamming while he was under the influence. He also said that his addiction was the reason he spiraled out of control. Schnepf then claimed the realtor in the scheme that finally did him in was in on the whole thing. Apparently, he had just signed the purchase documents as a favor to her and she had met him at a bar. The

judge didn't take kindly to those excuses and sentenced Schnepf anyway. Cases like Robert Schnepf seem to be a dime a dozen, and theres no real easy way to detect their frauds. Building close relationships is how these scammers operate, and sadly, these scams only work because people are generally good, trusting, and wanting to help. So should we just stop helping others for fear of being scammed? Is

that the only real way of protecting ourselves? The world is already a harsh and uncaring place, and living in a world where we only watch out for ourselves will make it more so. We do good, and run the risk of being taken advantage of, or we stop and guarantee that nothing will ever get better. Theres always going to be bad actors doing what they can to

misbehave. So be cautious, believe it when you see it, get it in writing if you can, and verify claims when possible. But most of all, never stop being the change you want to see. The world needs it. Rushed In 2016 Derek Andersen met Gilbert J. Peter while he was coaching their kids flag football team. As they got to know each other, Andersen confided in Peter that

his son had needed a follow-up surgery to correct a bone cyst in his femur- the condition wasnt serious or life threatening, but was painful and needed to be seen to. Peter said he had connections at the University of Miami and offered to help Andersens son any way he could. As Andersen and Peter got to better know one another, Peter revealed that he was a venture capitalist.

Andersen was clearly intrigued and after a few months Peter told him he had a great investment opportunity. With assurances that he would never risk Andersons family- what kind of man would risk the finances of someone whos trying to pay for their kids medical treatment- Peter presented an investment opportunity that was ready to pay out. The only catch was that Anderson was going to need to invest

$150,000 and move quickly doing it- no time for research or consideration. Take the blue pill or the red pill, Neo- in or out. The investment was in My Doc Urgent Care located in Garfield, New Jersey, in the same parking lot as a Wal-Mart and an Applebees. If that doesnt scream quality medical services, we dont know what does. You can get your cold checked, pick up an

Instant Pot, AND have some mozzarella sticks all for about $30. (CTA to Like Video) Andersen knew that medical properties could be lucrative, so he gave Peter the $150,000. Less than a month later, Peter told Andersen that he had another spot for an equity investor and needed another $150,000 to buy equipment for the urgent care center. Understanding that this was a big ask, Peter told Andersen to

put in just $100,000, and Peter would put in the additional $50,000. Peter personally guaranteed he would pay back the $100,000 in 30 days plus, hed give an additional 1% equity in the company just for helping out. The only real problem with the whole deal was that Gilbert J. Peter Jr.s apparent wealth and opulent lifestyle had been financed by investors like Derek Anderson, not WalMart parking lot

medical offices. Gilbert Peter Gilbert J. Peter sold himself as your friend next door. A kind looking 60 something year old man whos so humble and down to earth that it almost contradicts his mansion-living-huge-party-throwing lifestyle. Peter is interested in sharing his wealth with you, and hell happily tell you about how he acquired much of his wealth by saving all his money when he was younger and investing

in it smartly. Hes nice and he seems like he genuinely wants to share his lifestyle with you. This was all part of his pitch though. Like most con artists, Peter was selling his house and his parties as a dream that was attainable for whomever he was targeting. And hes looking for investors for his new product hes selling with Iron Mike Tyson! Concerned After a month went

by and no repayment, Andersen reasonably started asking Peter what on earth was going on. Peter first responded with righteous indignation that his business practices were even being questioned, then attempted a Well, the best I can do is $12,000 dollar schtick as if he were Rick Harrison and this was his pawn shop. After that, Andersen was only paid in excuses: I need another week or I need

to sell some stock- anything to delay payment. When the initial dividends had stopped coming, Andersens father-in-law had been battling cancer, and Andersen badly needed the money to help. Peter repeatedly promised that the money was coming, that hed never screw the family over, that his prayers were going out to Andersen's wifes family. Shockingly, the excuses helped the family about as much as the prayers did. Eventually, Andersen

did receive a check for $84,000- and it promptly bounced. Peter then started begging Andersen: please keep this issue between the two of them, that hed been in business for 30 years and this had NEVER happened before, that hes so humiliated, his reputation could be ruined. Derek Andersen would seem to be a reasonable person, and like most reasonable people, he tended to accept Peters reasonable excuses. Thats

until Peter started saying he needed more time to get more investors so Andersen could be paid out. Uh oh- Andersen started to realize what investors are most afraid of realizing- that this was a Ponzi. A Ponzi scheme is a scam in which initial investors pay into an investment fund, in this case a medical office, and are then paid out initial inflated sums to lure other new

investors with the promise of huge gains- then rich friends go tell their rich friends. When it comes time to pay out, the scammer pays with the new investments. As long as new investors keep contributing money, the scam goes on. After much bickering and fighting over how the business was run, Peter offered to buy out Andersens shares at $175,000 via check sent through the mail. That check

bounced too. Jenny Alfonso Parkland, Florida resident Jenny Alfonso met Gilbert Peter through his second ex-wife, Lauren, when they both had children in the same preschool. Peter invited Alfonso and her kids to their mansion around the start of the school year for a big party with bounce houses, a cleaning crew, and tons of food and drinks. Through conversation, Peter had become aware that Alfonso was struggling with

some medical costs related to her sons Type 1 diabetes and had offered to help. He seemed so affable and charming that Alfonso was quickly drawn in, completely unaware that Peter has no soul. Peters pitch to her was a rare opportunity to own one percent of a business called Doctor Doctor, located in Garfield, New Jersey. Next to a WalMart. And an Applebees. Same building, different name. Alfonso

worked in health care so she knew that the 50 patients a day Peter claimed the clinic was seeing would make it easy to invest in- clinics with only 20 patients a day did quite well, so 50 would be fantastic. Peter guaranteed an easy 24 percent return on investment, so Alfonso borrowed against her 401(k) and gave him $50,000. 12 months after her initial investment, Alfonso hadnt seen

a single payment. When Alfonso asked about the payments after three months of waiting, Peter told her that the company issued dividends every six months because it was easier. Six months went by, and an increasingly concerned Alfonso called Peter asking where her payment was, but Peter said that the company was now issuing yearly dividends instead. So Alfonso, tired of waiting, said she wanted out, but was told

she couldnt get out. Peter said the only time they make an exception is when someone has cancer, so shed have to wait while her money was kept in Ponzi jail. Alfonso even reminded Peter that she had borrowed against her 401k and needed the money to make the payments and that shes got a sick kid that had medical bills she needed to pay. And just like that,

Gilbert The Shameless Excuse Machine Peter went to work with some really impressive excuses: he had kidney stones (you DO need to be kidney stone free to make payments on things, most people dont know that), he was in the hospital and the money was stolen by an office manager, and a bank merger had prevented him from returning the funds. Alfonso was stuck. Office Manager As it turns

out, My Doc was an actual business owned by Peter, and was run by office manager Julia Marino. Marino was hired by Peter in 2017 and had worked tirelessly to build a business she believed to be authentic. Marino did everything from staffing to marketing, and actually got the patients up to over 150 a day, making the business profitable- she had no idea what Peter was up to.

Soon Peter told her to open a limited liability company in Wyoming a state where individuals names arent required because the LLCs activities wouldnt be traceable back to Sneaky Peter. Then, Peter was calling her twice daily, needing to know how much money was in the business account so it could be transferred into various shell companies hed created. In four years, Peter had Marino transfer over $2 million

dollars into his companies, completely disregarding boring things like bills and rent. It wasnt too long before Peter began asking Marino to boost Medicare claims to increase his payouts, making Marino an accomplice in committing Medicare fraud. And when the investors began calling looking for their money, Marino was told to write a bunch of checks, totalling over $1 million dollars. In New Jersey, where Marino was working, writing

a bad check for anything over $75,000 is a second-degree felony, which brought about a judgment against Marino - Peter said hed take care of it, but for him, that meant doing nothing. During this time Peter started asking Marino to hold off on collecting her salary, promising to pay her more after an insurance payment came through. Then he was boldly asking anyone and everyone to invest including

Marinos family members, insurance agents, and even wealthy looking patients. Seriously, what a weird thing to happen to anyone at an urgent care clinic. Peter slithering from around the corner and saying Hey, I have an investment opportunity for you that we can discuss over some mozzarella sticks! Legal Problems For Julia Moreno and My Doc, things were beginning to collapse. Aside from a federal case against Peter, there

were several foreign cases totaling well over $100,000, unpaid rent threatening to shut the doors, and the taxes for My Doc were a total mess. No K1s- an IRS tax form issued annually for an investment in a partnershipwere ever even issued to investors but Marino wasnt sure of who owned what anyway. In the meantime, Marino was providing relevant information to plaintiffs in a suit against Peter, and

the shady doctor John Anastasi. Once discovered, she was quickly terminated. One of Peters favorite excuses for not returning funds to investors was to scapegoat Marino by accusing her of embezzling over $1 million dollars, so Im sure she was heartbroken by the termination. Lawsuits The Branch Lawsuit that Marino had aided, alleged that Peter was regularly taking unauthorized personal withdrawals from My Docs operating account for what appeared

to be personal expenses unrelated to the business. The lawsuit filed in New Jersey by Tate Branch and Wes Shields resulted in a default judgment against My Doc and Peter for the amount of $1,180,500 plus applicable interest. In 2012, Patricia Overton was conned by Gilbert Peter into investing over $200,000 in ForU Holdings Inc, where he was listed as the director. Peters pitch to Overton described a nutritional

supplement and a skincare product that was customized to each consumers unique genetic profile, costing clients over $100 a month. Unbeknownst to Overton, the company was forced to drop misleading disease claims that their products could treat diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, insomnia, and other ailments as this is a textbook case of false advertising. It seems Peter has a penchant for ripping off sick people. Overton got an attorney

when she realized that her money wasnt being used for legitimate business purposes but rather to fund Peters lavish personal lifestyle in a clear cut Ponzi scheme. Jenny Alfonso did a little background research, finding Peters former LLC, ForU, had violated SEC rules and regulations, so she first filed with them. Then, on September 30, 2021, she filed a suit with the Broward County Court. Aftermath Julia Marino hired

an attorney and had her civil judgmentment, the one Peter said hed take care of, tossed. Jenny Alfonso has since moved from Parkland, but remains in contact with other residents Peter swindled or attempted to. She hasnt received a single dime from her judgment. On May 16, 2021 Derek Andersen was awarded a default judgment totaling $137,883.40, plus interest at a rate of 4.31% per year until paid. As

of right now, Andersen received some money but not the amount owed. Peter, when contacted by Sharon Aron Baron for local news magazine Parkland Talk, said that all his victims are getting paid back. Since hes got such a great track record with paying people back, hes probably going to. Except he attempted to file for bankruptcy in June of 2022, so he probably wont. However, he still insists

that Julia Marino was embezzling, and that the matter is under investigation. She probably isnt. Gilbert J. Peter, Jr. was arrested at his home in Parkland on July 26, 2022 for a crime by deception exceeding $10,000, and now awaits extradition to Kentucky to face charges. Peter claims he has serious health concerns from pneumonia and Covid and now has breathing complications- sounds like hes down on his luckI

wonder if hed be interested in an investment opportunity? Click to watch one of these next videos! Let us know in the comment section what youd rather have, get 30 million dollars and instantly be 70 years old, or have no net worth but instantly be 18 with the knowledge you have now?