Cops: Man tried to buy car with fake funds

A Brooklyn man faces grand larceny charges in Nassau County after police said he tried to purchase a vehicle using postal money orders from bank accounts funded with fraudulent checks.

Police said Derrick Boothe, 24, of 1420 E. 95th St., answered an ad on Craigslist for a Mercedes-Benz listed by the owner for $12,500 on Sept. 28.

According to detectives, Boothe gave the owner a $1,000 deposit for the vehicle that day and returned two days later with $10,140 in postal money orders. Before releasing the title and the car, the owner told Boothe he wanted to verify the payment, so he took the money orders to the post office where U.S. Post Office investigators found that they had been purchased with debit cards from various bank accounts that had been funded with fake checks.

Boothe was arrested when he tried to pick up the car. Police said the banks sustained a financial loss in excess of $5,900.

Boothe is charged with third-degree grand larceny, and one count of first-degree defraud. He will be arraigned Wednesday in First District Court, Hempstead.