{"id":373894,"date":"2026-08-17T18:54:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T18:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/373894\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T18:54:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T18:54:24","slug":"tampa-man-arrested-for-defrauding-elderly-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/373894\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa man arrested for defrauding elderly woman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">PALM COAST, Fla. \u2014 A Tampa man is accused of taking $4,000 from an 88-year-old Palm Coast woman while working for an unlicensed air-duct company, according to the Flagler County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Deputies arrested 32-year-old Amjad Otor on charges of organized scheme to defraud and theft from a person 65 or older.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The sheriff\u2019s office is reminding homeowners to confirm contractors\u2019 credentials through the state\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myfloridalicense.com\/wl11.asp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">online license-search tool<\/a> before agreeing to any work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Investigators said the woman contacted Universal Air Duct Cleaning LLC in February to clean the ductwork in her home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">According to an arrest affidavit, two men arrived in an unmarked Chevrolet pickup truck and partially cleaned the system. They charged the woman $500 before telling her that damaged ductwork needed to be replaced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The men offered to complete the additional work for $5,000 and requested a partial cash payment, deputies said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Investigators said Otor took $1,000 in cash, showed the woman a piece of new ductwork and later told her the replacement work had been completed. The woman then provided two checks totaling $3,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The affidavit said $500 of the cash payment was for the original cleaning, while the remaining $3,500 was intended for the promised duct replacement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The woman became suspicious and asked her handyman to inspect the work. Deputies said the handyman found that the damaged ductwork remained in place and the insulation in the attic had not been disturbed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">A certified inspector later confirmed that the ducts had not been replaced, according to investigators.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The woman contacted the company and asked for the work to be completed, but deputies said her calls were no longer answered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Detectives determined Otor\u2019s truck was at the woman\u2019s home for less than 90 minutes. The woman later identified him in a photo lineup as the man who accepted her payments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Investigators said Otor allegedly used a false name while communicating with the woman.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation told detectives that Universal Air Duct Cleaning was no longer operating and was not a legitimate licensed company, according to the affidavit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The company had an \u201cF\u201d rating with the Better Business Bureau and multiple complaints involving incomplete work, deputies said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The company\u2019s owner, identified as 25-year-old Tomer Nahmani of Altamonte Springs, was not licensed to perform or subcontract the work, according to investigators.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Otor was arrested with assistance from Fort Lauderdale police and later released from the Broward County Jail on a $10,000 bond.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The investigation remains active, and additional charges are pending.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Anyone who paid Otor, Nahmani or Universal Air Duct Cleaning for work that was not completed is asked to call the Flagler County Sheriff\u2019s Office at 386-313-4911.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/mobile-apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/mobile-apps\">Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/video\/\">click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wftvapps.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786992864_208_APP DOWNLOAD LOCAL_1541693885678.jpg_13622062_ver1.0.jpg\" width=\"100%\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>TOP STORIES FROM WFTV CHANNEL 9<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph body-copyright\">\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PALM COAST, Fla. \u2014 A Tampa man is accused of taking $4,000 from an 88-year-old Palm Coast woman&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[150873,147,145,28620,28,139,17140,135,137,136,150875,150874,144,146],"class_list":["post-373894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-amjad-otor","tag-central-florida","tag-channel-9","tag-flagler-county-sheriffs-office","tag-florida","tag-orlando","tag-palm-coast","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-tomer-nahmani","tag-universal-air-duct-cleaning-llc","tag-wftv","tag-wftv-channel-9"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}