DA: Custodian charged with stealing $50,000 from victim in job scam

Prosecutors said a custodian for a Uniondale nursing home scammed a co-worker out of $50,000 by promising him a job as a janitor in two Nassau school districts in exchange for the money — and then texting death threats to the victim when he stopped paying.

Dane Williams, 29, of Hempstead, was arrested and arraigned Wednesday in First District Court in Hempstead on charges of second-degree grand larceny, first-degree identity theft and second-degree aggravated harassment and is due back in court Friday, according to Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas.

“This defendant allegedly preyed on a co-worker’s desire to get a better job by allegedly scamming the man out of more $50,000 with promises of work in two local school districts,” Singas said in a news release.

Williams was represented by the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, which does not comment on pending cases.

District Court Judge Scott Siller set bail at $10,000 cash or $5,000 bond and issued a Stay Away Order of Protection for the victim. If convicted of the top charge, Williams faces up to five to 15 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Williams is accused of promising the victim, with whom he worked at a Uniondale rehabilitation and nursing center, that he would funnel the money to local elected officials and janitorial supervisors who could secure employment for the victim as a janitor in the Uniondale and Hempstead school districts.

Between January 2018 and January 2019, the victim gave Williams $50,000 in money that he borrowed from friends and family, prosecutors said, adding that Williams began texting death threats to the victim once he began to feel Williams had been lying and stopped making payments.

He then contacted Singas' office, officials said