A Brooklyn con man posed as an ex-Delta Force member and used convincing online sites to dupe desperate parents into believing he could rescue their abducted children, authorities said Tuesday.
Peter Senese, 49, allegedly lied to his victims that his “I CARE Foundation” had military and legal resources to help the parents reunite with their missing children, according to the US Attorney’s Office and FBI.
His sites StopChildAbduction.org and PeterSenese.com are still up and running.
Senese tricked his first victim, identified only as “V-1” in court papers, into shelling out more than $30,000 — as well as other monthly payments ranging from $3,000 to $5,000 — after the parent’s child was abducted in New York in November 2013 and taken to India, the criminal complaint said.
He promised he could reunite “V-1” with the child in two weeks with the help of an “unidentified retired federal judge, unidentified teams of international lawyers” and several members of the elite Army squad.
But instead, Senese allegedly led the victim on a wild goose chase for nine months, texting them fake updates on his rescue efforts while pretending to be in India.
“We are a go go go go go. They are to pick [the child] up in 11 hours. I am so extremely excited. I’m quarterbacking everything right now at my end. 17 hours into Dubai, 30 hours into New York,” Senese texted on April 26, 2014.
Investigators later found Senese was in New York, Miami and Ontario, Calif., when he claimed to be in India — and had not traveled outside the US since 2007.
When “V-1’s” money ran out, Senese hit up the victim’s parents for $25,000, court papers said.
Last June, he swindled another $5,000 from a second victim but got spooked when the parent tried to arrange a meeting with Senese and an attorney, authorities said.
“I CARE Foundation” had never been registered as a nonprofit and Senese had no affiliation with the US Army, investigators said.
Senese was arrested Tuesday on wire-fraud charges and appeared in Manhattan federal court.
He was released on $100,000 bond after his parents, who were in the courtroom, put up their Mill Basin home as security.
“I’m not guilty,” said Senese. “If you take a look at the testimonies on the ‘I CARE Foundation’ website, they’ll speak for themselves.”
The site contains “sworn testimonies” applauding Senese’s child-search services and links to some of his books on child abduction.