Brooklyn, NY - Man Impersonates Marine To Avoid Lawsuit

Brooklyn, NY - A Brooklyn man has been arrested for falsely claiming to be a U.S. Marine in order to avoid going to court for a lawsuit filed against him.

The Kings County district attorney's office said that when Benjamin Cruz, 39, presented the court what he claimed was an official order from the Department of Defense calling him up to active duty, the victim became suspicious and contacted the Brooklyn District Attorney's Citizen Action Center.

In 2004 the victim hired Cruz to help her improve her credit rating. Shortly after hiring Cruz, the victim, an active-duty member of the U.S. Army, was deployed to Iraq. Unhappy with Cruz's work, the defendant sued him in Small Claims Court when she returned from her tour.
Claiming he would be unable to attend the trial, on May 18, Cruz showed the judge a letter from the Department of Defense, which identified him as a major and ordered him to report to the Marine Corps Intelligence Office in Washington, D.C. the previous week.
An investigation by the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office determined the order to be false and that Cruz was not a member of the Marines.

Cruz is charged with offering a false Instrument for filing in the first degree. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison.