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Police: Suspect Took $4,400 For LES Apartment He Didn't Control

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police were searching Friday evening for a suspect who allegedly took $4,400 from a prospective tenant at a Lower East Side apartment he did not really own or represent.

The 36-year-old man saw the apartment on Craigslist and met the suspect on Aug. 16, police said. The suspect showed the man an apartment at the building at 178 Ludlow St., police said.

The victim wanted to rent the apartment and handed the $4,400 to the suspect, police said.

But when the victim returned to move in, he found that someone else was already living there, and the man who had shown him the apartment did not own the building and did not represent anyone who did, police said.

Police have released a surveillance video of the suspect.

Anyone with information was asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS, log onto the Crime Stoppers website, or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and enter TIP577.

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