MONROE, N.Y. — A 26-year-old developmentally disabled and partially deaf man was scammed out of $60,000 in a bizarre case where a couple convinced him an ambulance mafia would kill him if he didn’t pay up.
The FBI has charged John Naudy, 28, and his wife Nicole Naudy, 27, with a felony count of harassment or intimidation, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, the Record Online reports.
Over the course of two years they are accused of injecting the unnamed victim with drugs in order to steal money; creating a fictional organization called the ambulance mafia; convincing him to fake injuries that resulted in a medical helicopter flight; and forcing him to cross dress.
According to a complaint filed in federal court, Nicole and the victim when to high school together, and the couple befriended him online. They would get him drunk, inject him with drugs, and he would wake up the next day to find money withdrawn from his bank account, but had no memory of making the withdrawals, the documents say.
John Naudy is a registered nurse and EMT who worked as a shift manager at Campbell Rehabilitation Center, the Record Online reports. He also ran a life-support business from his home, which included CPR training and advanced cardiovascular life support.
An elaborate story
The complaint says they also convinced him to dress as a woman and lie down in the middle of the road and play dead as part of a “dance contest” to impress “Taylor,” a girlfriend who he communicated with on Facebook.
When he did so, an ambulance arrived that was driven by John Naudy. Nicole Naudy told the victim he gave a fake name and date of birth to the paramedic, which was illegal. To keep the ambulance company from filing a complaint, he owed $390,000, she told him.
She also convinced him that the ambulance company was owned by an Albany, N.Y.-based mafia that would kill him and his dog, and cut his mother with a chainsaw if he didn’t pay, the Record Online reports. The couple put him on a payment plan of $200 per week, and then raised it to about $3,000 per month, according to the complaint.
An unnecessary med flight
At one point, Nicole Naudy told him the ambulance mafia needed him to create a distraction so it could conduct a drug deal. He let her scratch him, withdraw blood from his body and splatter him with it. He was airlifted in an unconscious state to Westchester Medical Center.
The FBI did not reveal how it got involved with the case, but the investigation led to recorded conversations between the victim and the Naudys that included discussions of the payments to the ambulance mafia, and what would happen if he didn’t pay.
A hearing for the case has been scheduled for Sept. 13 at 9 a.m.