Story by Ethan
On October 30th, 2025, the arrest of Nicholas Fuelling, age 43, was announced by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr.. Nicholas Fuelling was charged with first-degree Scheme to Defraud, third-degree Grand Larceny, and third-degree Criminal Possession of Stolen Property. The arrest and charges against Nicholas Fuelling were a result of an investigation handled by The Financial Frauds Bureau’s Victoria Grevenberg (Housing Coordinator), Sofia Albi (HTPU Analyst), Brianna Vaca (Trial Preparation Assistant), NYPD Detective Yousef Demes, Police Officer Denise Garcia Torres of the Midtown North Precinct Detective Squad, and Detective Tamarah Pinckney of the Midtown South Detective Squad.
According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, court documents and statements show that in August 2025 Nicholas Fuelling used Facebook Marketplace to advertise a sublease of a Hell’s Kitchen apartment in Manhattan, New Jersey, where he had been renting one of the two bedrooms since 2022. Despite only having rented out the one bedroom the defendant actively claimed that both bedrooms were in the sublease without any approval from the building’s landlord. Between August 8th and August 16th, 2025, five individuals came in contact with Nicholas Fuelling about the sublease, all of them proceeding to sign agreements and pay the defendant money. Four of the victims paid the defendant $3,200 to lease out the one bedroom, and the fifth victim paid $6,400 for both bedrooms that were advertised. All individuals were expecting to move into the apartment at the end of the month for various times between six months to a year, however none of them were able to move into the building. One of the victims was left homeless, and any attempts to contact Nicholas Fuelling were unsuccessful. Allegedly the defendant ceased communication with the victims and failed to return any of the over $20,000 he received in payments for the apartment.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office stated that the charges against Nicholas Fuelling are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
