It was too good to be true, with a Florida twist.
After agreeing to buy a 2022 Mercedes-Benz S-Class at a Sarasota dealership last month, police say, a man who called himself Robert Banagino told the manager helping him sign for the luxury car retailing for over $132,000 that he had an unusual problem.
The self-styled New York businessman said he had traveled to Florida as part of his hurricane relief business in the wake of the devastation wrought by Ian, and decided to purchase two properties in the same number of days, according to a Sarasota Sheriff’s Office police report. At first, he sought a 26,560-square-foot industrial warehouse for a little over $17 million, before expressing interest in owning a $5.2 million seven-bedroom mansion about 30 minutes south.
But he wasn’t done yet.
Banagino told the sales manager of the Mercedes-Benz dealership on Oct. 28 that he needed to spend more—specifically, to donate some of his $127 million net worth for tax purposes. He went as far as to show a picture of his loaded checking account balance to prove his wealth, according to the report.
Almost immediately, the manager offered a tantalizing solution: donate the money to ESPN legend Dick Vitale’s cancer foundation.
“They called me and told me of his intention [of] making this large donation and asked if he could bring him over to my house to introduce me to him,” Vitale told The Daily Beast. “Shortly after meeting him, he verbally committed to a $3 million donation for pediatric cancer research.”
The meeting was short, Vitale recalled, punctuated by the visitor asking for a signed basketball for his “daughter Jenna” who he said was on a basketball scholarship at Florida State University. But when the sportscaster offered to take a picture with the mega-donor, he swiftly declined.
Vitale did not raise an eyebrow when the elusive backer preferred not to document the significant win for the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research—because he kept bragging about his wealth.
“This is all simply a job to him.”
— Laura Maslin Osenni
“He kept saying that his companies were doing so well and that he wanted to give back to charities,” Vitale said about the rendezvous at his home.
While Vitale was “initially ecstatic” about such a hefty donation, authorities say the local realtor working with Banagino had grown suspicious upon realizing he had yet to show an ID despite several attempts.
After a few internet searches, the realtor began to wonder if Robert Banagino even existed.
In fact, the supposed titan seeking $23 million dollars worth of homes and cars in Sarasota was Robert Schnepf—a man previously described in media reports as a con artist who was currently on probation for grand theft.
While it is not immediately clear if Schnepf even had the money for these lavish purchases and donations, police say that over the last 15 years, the 48-year-old has swindled a slew of people and businesses in Florida and New York under a series of disguises. They range from an FDNY Emergency Medical Services lieutenant to an army war veteran to a plumber. While the alleged scams and aliases vary, Schnepf’s motivation always seems to be the same: try to gobble up money or goods before disappearing.
Schnepf’s criminal history dates back to at least 2009, and includes arrests in the two states on an array of charges, including burglary, assault, criminal impersonation, forged instruments, and theft. Interviews and court documents illustrate how he was able to slip through the cracks for years—evading serious punishment and enraging those unfortunate enough to cross paths with him.
And while Schnepf is not directly charged over the pledge to Vitale, his attempt to dupe a celebrity may represent the end of a long and improbable road to infamy.
“This guy is a rock star of a scam artist. He is very charismatic and nice and makes you feel like you can trust him,” Laura Maslin Osenni, a 63-year-old Florida resident who was the victim of a theft scheme Schnepf was convicted of in 2019, told The Daily Beast.
“How do you impersonate a New York City… EMS worker and still are able to get out on the streets?”
— Faith Gamali
Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office
The Sarasota Sheriff’s Office has charged Schnepf with a single felony of scheming to defraud more than $50,000 in connection with the alleged scam involving the property and car deals, and he is now being held on a $100,000 bond. Schnepf pleaded not guilty to the charge and has requested a jury trial.
If convicted of this latest felony charge, Schnepf faces up to 30 years in prison. His public defender, Geoffrey Proffitt, declined The Daily Beast’s request for comment. Schnepf’s family did not respond to a request for comment.
Standing 6’6 and weighing over 250 pounds, Schnepf doesn’t exactly slide under the radar.
A native of Forest Hills, Queens, local news reports state that Schnepf made quite the name for himself in New York—through that name and his occupation seemed to vary depending on who he was with.
Court documents suggest he first made it onto law enforcement radar around April 2009, when he was charged with burglary in St. Lucie County, Florida. A warrant obtained by The Daily Beast states that Schnepf broke into a woman’s house “with the intent to commit an offense.”
However, Schnepf was soon back in the Empire State—where he allegedly used several fake identities to scam women out of money. Among his most popular alleged grifts, according to a transcript of a 911 call to Southampton Village Police Department, was pretending to be “a 10-year Special Forces veteran to elicit food, lodging, and work in the area.” (It is not clear if he was ever arrested or charged in connection with that scheme.)
Southhampton Village Police Department
In other parts of town, according to a 2010 article by the New York Post, Schnepf would pretend to be a business mogul with ties from everyone from Rihanna to Heineken.
During an October 2009 speech, Schnepf reportedly promised $3.5 million to fund a facility for a Staten Island domestic violence shelter. At another charity event, Schnepf was caught on camera donating $50,000—before claiming that he was in a movie with Jessica Alba. (The Daily Beast could not find any record of the donation or film appearance.)
“When you look back on it, you feel like an idiot,” Long Island resident Kim Cuneo told the Post over a decade ago. “He’s just a smooth talker. He’s very good at what he does.”
Swirling rumors about Schnepf’s antics eventually caught the eye of local New York reporter Howard Thompson, who was known for a TV bit meant to help residents solve conflicts. The show, “Help Me Howard,” hinged on confronting individuals who had ill-gotten gains—and often included dramatic surprise moments that would elicit wild confessions.
“Hey Gang, Trust me, no one wants to find Robert Schnepf… more than I do!” Thompson wrote on Facebook on Dec. 16, 2009.
Schnepf was arrested just days later in Southampton on the outstanding Florida burglary warrant. He was eventually extradited, though it is not clear what happened to the case.
Upon his release, it seemed like Schnepf might be laying low. Eventually, however, he was once again on the radar of his old foe—PIX 11’s Howard Thompson—after the reporter caught wind of his allegedly bilking New Jersey resident Marcus Matos.
According to Matos, Schnepf promised to renovate his home to the tune of $34,000. Instead, Matos told Thompson in a “Help Me Howard” segment, Schnepf and his crew merely tore up his Dover home and vanished after a local inspector shut down the construction site for not having the proper permits.
“Sick to my stomach, literally,” Matos said in the segment. “I mean we basically gave him pretty much everything.”
In the dramatic segment, Thomas caught up to Schnepf after what he described as years of “playing catch me if you can.” Outside of a two-family Staten Island home, Thompson is seen walking up to the towering hulk just as he is exiting his car. Sporting a chin strap beard and baseball cap, Schnepf insists that he did not rip anyone off.
“I wanna make sure this gets straightened out as soon as possible,” Schnepf said. “I don’t have that money.”
Matos did not respond to questions about the allegations, but told The Daily Beast that knowing Schnepf was “free to roam and able to continue with his deceitful ways is sickening.” It is not clear if he was ever charged in connection with Matos’ allegations. The Dover Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
While Schnepf’s very public profile on local television garnered online buzz, it seemed to die down by the time Faith Gamali met him as she was selling her home.
The 54-year-old Brooklyn native said that when she was connected to Schnepf by her realtor to help clean out her house in 2019, he introduced himself as Robert Hart. She needed all the help she could get, she said, because she had been diagnosed with cancer that same year.
While Gamali declined to chat in detail about her relationship with the man she would later learn was Schnepf, she did tell The Daily Beast that she began dating him that year—around the same time she introduced him to a friend she met at the gym, Laura Maslin Osenni.
“He was nice and instantly said we were family,” Osenni told The Daily Beast, adding that she also knew Schnepf as “Robert Hart.”
So when Osenni and her then-husband began to make plans to move to Florida, she was delighted to learn Gamali was planning the same southern migration. To make matters even more fortuitous, she learned that Schnepf was a “master plumber” who might be able to help them with their new home.
Osenni didn’t think twice when Schnepf told her she needed a new AC unit. She said she wrote checks in May 2019 totaling $25,000 for the unit and additional plumbing work to be completed over the next month….
