WESTCHESTER Square families say they were burned by a neighbor who promised cut-rate heating oil and left them in a deep freeze, conning them out of thousands of dollars.
The alleged con man, Nicholas J. Marti, told the victims he’d deliver cheap heating oil if they paid him up front, residents said. They obliged — some forking out as much as $6,000 for the fuel they believed was on reserve for them.
“Everybody jumped on it, because it was a great deal,” K. Correa, 40, who lost $3,900 in the con, told the Daily News. “Of course, nobody would think a neighbor would screw over a neighbor.”
The residents said Marti, whose family lives on the same street as some of his alleged victims, promised them heating oil for between $2.70 and $2.85 a gallon. Current Bronx heating oil prices range between $3.99 and $4.69 a gallon, according to www.midatlanticoil.com, which lists oil prices in the Tristate area.
Marti brought them the oil once or twice, they said, but it dried up — and eventually Marti did, too, right before the first of the winter’s seemingly endless chain of snowstorms. On top of that, the victims said they received bills from another heating oil company for Marti’s last delivery.
The residents are said they’re on the hook for thousands while they endure a freezing season in homes without heating fuel.
“I was going to bed cold,” said Fulgencio Carrero, 69, a disabled veteran who said he shelled out nearly $5,900 to Marti but had to live without heat until a few days ago.
“I’m not going to see all that money, Carrero said. “I just hope he gets time in jail.”
An NYPD source said a resident filed a complaint against Marti alleging grand larcey on Friday, and a spokesman for the Bronx District Attorney’s Office said the office was looking into the alleged fraud.
Another resident who paid Marti nearly $6,000 filed a complaint with the police last week.
Marti’s “customers” fear as many as a dozen families may have been swindled.
The alleged victims said that Marti was hiding out with relatives in Pennsylvania. Reached by phone Monday, Marti insisted that everything was on the up and up.
“Nothing is happening,” Marti said. “I’m taking care of my business. I’ve got nothing to say to you.”
Marti’s alleged victims said they couldn’t understand how someone they’d known for so long could allegedly scam them.
“If you had a problem, we’re neighbors. We could’ve worked something out,” said Eduardo Martinez, a firefighter who lost $2,200 in the alleged swindle. “You made it so much worse by disappearing.”
jcunningham@nydailynews.com
