Scammer Sentenced For Bilking $20K From Elderly Woman In Berkeley

BERKELEY, NJ — A Lakehurst man was sentenced to state prison after bilking elderly woman he met at a bank in Berkeley out of $20,000 while already facing theft charges, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

Robert Cohan, 36, was sentenced to eight years in New Jersey State Prison for his guilty plea to theft by deception and will have to pay about $220,000 in restitution to his victims, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Cohan was originally charged in June 2022 after he targeted residents of the Gardens of Pleasant Plains in Toms River, posing as a contractor but completing little to no work, Billhimer said. He sometimes would pose as a relative of someone who owned a legitimate contracting business, Billhimer said, stealing about $200,000 from at least ten victims in the process. Read more: Unregistered Contractor Stole $150K From Toms River Residents: Police

He was charged and taken into custody by Toms River police, Billhimer said, but was released due to bail reform.

An investigation by Berkeley police revealed that in Sept. 2022 after being released from jail, Cohan met an elderly woman at a bank in Berkeley, Billhimer said.

Using a fake identity, Cohan solicited a "small amount" of money from the woman, and in exchange, promised to complete a small task on her property, Billhimer said.

Now knowing the woman's address, Cohan continuously visited her home and solicited larger sums of money for multiple reasons, including funeral expenses for his purportedly dead father-in-law, Billhimer said. Further investigation revealed that Cohan's father-in-law was, in fact, alive, Billhimer said.

Cohan also accompanied the woman to several banks, convincing her to withdraw large sums of money from her account or by way of credit card cash advances, totaling about $20,000, Billhimer said.

Cohan was again charged with theft by deception and his release under bail reform was revoked, Billhimer said.

He pleaded guilty on Aug. 28.