Cops: Scam victim joined in to recoup loss

She's accused of going from victim to scammer.

An upstate nurse, desperate to recoup her life savings lost to a lottery scam promising her $4.5 million and a free car, agreed to join in and help rip off an elderly Great Neck man, Nassau County police said Friday.

But whoever defrauded the nurse, Patricia M. Berak, 65, remains at large -- and Berak alone is charged with two felonies. Berak, of upstate Latham, was arraigned and freed Friday without bail on the charges of grand larceny and scheme to defraud.

The scheme began in November when Berak heard from a man congratulating her on being a winner. But, the caller told her, there was a catch: She'd have to pay the taxes and the car registration. In all, she claims, she sent about $100,000.

Months later another man contacted her, this one claiming to be an FBI agent investigating the November caller for being a lotto "scam artist." He assured her she'd still won but said she'd forfeit the winnings if she didn't pay taxes and car registration fee. When she said she was broke, he suggested she borrow against her retirement fund -- which she did, police said.

By then, she had exhausted all money sources. That's when the "FBI agent" told her he could help her recoup the money if she helped scam others. This involved cashing a check sent to her in the name of the elderly Great Neck man, whom she does not know.

The man's $40,000 plight made its way to detectives from the Manhasset-based Sixth Squad, who tracked Berak down upstate and arrested her.

She acknowledged to police that what she did was foolish and wrong, but told police: "The only chance I had of getting my money back was to do this."

She declined to comment.

Det. Sgt. Salvatore Scalone, a Sixth Squad supervisor, said investigators were trying to unravel the scheme. "This is almost like a spider web. It branches out in all directions. It's a very, very difficult case to put together."