FDNY Impersonator Arrested In Luxury-Auto Scam

Jan. 15, 2003
A Queens man posing as a fire hero burned dozens of people with bogus promises to sell them luxury cars from a city parking pound.
January 15, 2003 -- A Queens man posing as a fire hero burned dozens of people with bogus promises to sell them luxury cars from a city parking pound, authorities said yesterday.

Fake FDNY uniforms with his embroidered name weren't all fire marshals reported finding yesterday when they busted Maurice Knight, 25, at his Hollis apartment.

They also found a military uniform, a professor's robe from St. John's University, and fake IDs that would have let Knight pass as an EMS worker, a transit worker and a Board of Elections official, authorities said.

Knight denied he's a fraudster.

"Yeah, they stretched the truth real thin," he told reporters.

Fire marshals and investigators from the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office say Knight took $21,000 in deposits from 46 people for luxury cars - Mercedes and BMWs - which he said had been confiscated by the city.

He's charged with criminal impersonation, forgery, grand larceny and fraud.

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