BRADENTON, FL (LOOTPRESS) – A Florida man is facing grand theft charges after allegedly impersonating tech billionaire Elon Musk online to defraud a 74-year-old woman out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Jeffrey Arthur Moynihan Jr., 56, expressed confusion when Bradenton police arrested him on November 19, captured on bodycam questioning officers, “Grand theft of what?”
Authorities allege Moynihan created an elaborate scheme to pose as the Tesla CEO, befriending the woman on Facebook and persuading her to wire substantial sums of money. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime , the suspect promised the woman a $55 million return on her “investment.”
The scheme was discovered when police subpoenaed Google for account information linked to Moynihan. Investigators found email addresses associated with Musk, as well as singer Lionel Richie and actor Johnny Depp, suggesting the suspect used multiple celebrity personas.
The victim’s husband, interviewed by authorities, expressed concern that his wife might have dementia, noting she still believed she had been communicating with the real Elon Musk.