Background: Jeffrey Arthur Moynihan Jr. is seen on police body camera footage (Bradenton Police Department). Inset left: Elon Musk arrives for the 2022 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2022, in New York (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue). Inset right: Jeffrey Arthur Moynihan Jr. (Bradenton Police Department).
Jeffrey Arthur Moynihan Jr., 56, voiced confusion in bodycam when cops in Bradenton, Florida, arrested him Nov. 19.
“Grand theft of what?” Moynihan asked, sitting on his porch while handcuffed behind his back. But authorities claim he posed as tech CEO Elon Musk online in order to make friends with a 74-year-old woman and bilk her out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
When investigators subpoenaed Google for account information, they turned up email addresses that included the names of Musk, singer Lionel Richie, and actor Johnny Depp.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, “Musk” made friends with the woman on Facebook and communicated with her over email. “Musk” allegedly asked the woman to invest with him, and promised a return of $55 million.
When authorities later talked to her husband, he said he believed that she lived with, in the affidavit’s words, “some form of dementia, as she still believes she invested money with the real Elon Musk.”
In truth, however, the real Musk did not receive the money. It was actually Moynihan and his business, Jeff’s Painting and Pressure Washing, LLC, authorities said. “Musk” allegedly presented the business as his money manager.
The victim “was told by ‘Elon Musk’ to wire her money to his money manager, “Jeff’s Painting and Presser Washing LLC,” and list the recipient’s bank as Truist Bank at 4215 Cortez Rd., Bradenton, Florida,” the affidavit says.
It is not immediately clear how much the woman is believed to have transferred to the impostor.
“Financial records indicate the victim transferred $250,000 to bank accounts owned by Moynihan and his business, Jeff’s Painting and Pressure Washing, LLC,” police wrote. “The victim’s husband told investigators his wife gave “Elon Musk” approximately $600,000.”
