10 Unbelievable Failed Imposters
Shocking Failed Imposters
1. Fake Denver plastic surgeon who performed tummy tucks and face lifts without anesthesia on 37 victims pleads guilty to illegally practicing and sexually assaulting clients
A Denver surgical assistant who posed as a plastic surgeon and operated on patients without anesthesia pleaded guilty to felony assault Friday. Carlos Hernandez Fernandez, 36, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and criminal impersonation - both felonies - as well as unauthorized practice of a physician, a misdemeanor. Hernandez Fernandez was arrested in August for performing tummy tucks and face-lifts on four women at Hernandez Fernandez Clinic at 424 South Federal Boulevard in Denver since January 2015, court documents show.
'No comment,' he said to reporters in Spanish as he walked out of the courtroom Friday after his plea hearing. In some cases, he used only local anesthesia instead of general and in other procedures he used none, the Denver Post reported. Hernandez Fernandez was initially charged with a combined 15 felony counts for assault, unlawful sexual contact and criminal impersonation. But more victims came forward, bringing the charges to 126 counts with 37 victims.
2. The David Lee Roth impersonator involved in a murderous Satanic love triangle
David Kuntz-Angel 52, was well-known in Ontario for impersonating Van Halen singer David Lee Roth. When he was stopped for speeding, he told officers he was Roth and was having an allergic reaction to nuts. He was sent to a hospital to recover, but was out later that night at a club, posing for photos and identifying himself, again, as Roth.
Now, apparently, the party is over. Imitation Diamond Dave has been charged with a long list of sexual assaults against a number of women and children, and his live-in girlfriend has been put away for stabbing a rival for Kuntz's affection to death. The murderess claimed that Kuntz was a Satanist who used mind control to inspire her to proceed with the killing.
The imposter is awaiting trial.
3. The fake personal care aide who raped a brain damaged woman
A man posing as a PCA took advantage of a 31-year-old woman with a rare brain disease that he met at the Mall of America in Minneapolis. The woman, who uses a walker, a leg brace, and has the cognitive abilities of a 4th grader, met Corey Gordon, 42, at a rehab center for her therapy sessions. For months Gordon told the staff that he was a PCA, and would have sex with the brain damaged woman in private rooms at the center. Her family became suspicious after seeing texts from the imposter on the victim's phone, and police arrested Gordon, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2014.
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4. 'Fake Firefighter' suspect to be charged
A former fashion writer wanted in connection with a vicious Halloween sex attack will be charged with kidnapping and other offenses once he can be brought back from Tennessee, where he was spotted on a college campus, prosecutors said Saturday. Peter Braunstein, 42, was hospitalized in fair condition Saturday, recovering from self-inflicted knife wounds. Police said he stabbed himself several times in the neck after a campus police officer confronted him Friday afternoon at the University of Memphis.
Braunstein is expected to be arraigned in Tennessee on Monday, authorities said. Prosecutors plan to seek an arrest warrant charging Braunstein with attacking a female acquaintance in Manhattan in October, said Barbara Thompson, a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. New York police had been hunting for Braunstein, once a writer for Women’s Wear Daily, since early November.
Investigators wanted to question him about a Halloween attack in which a man dressed as a firefighter bluffed his way into a woman’s apartment after setting two small fires. The man knocked her out with a chemical-soaked rag, bound her and molested her for more than 13 hours, police said. In addition to kidnapping, New York prosecutors said they plan to charge him with burglary, robbery and sexual abuse.
5. Detroit's notorious impostor convicted — again
After four decades of impersonating everything from a lawyer and a doctor, to a football player and a reporter, William Douglas Street Jr. stood in federal court today as the person he really is: a balding ex-con who can’t get a job. And his latest attempt to find work will likely cost him 2-to-3 years in federal prison. Street, a career con man who inspired an award-winning film and once even fooled the Detroit Tigers into letting him try out for the team in the early '70s, pleaded guilty today to identity theft and mail fraud in yet another bizarre impersonation case.
The shackled, 64-year-old Plymouth Township man admitted that he stole the identity of a Maryland-based defense contractor in 2013, obtained the man’s college transcripts, diplomas and class ring from Duke University and the U.S. Military Academy, and then used the information to post a fake resume to CareerBuilder.com. Street also had a fake military ID that he used to get into college alumni functions and even spoke at one pretending to be a Duke grad.
Street assumed this identity after reading an article about a man running a marathon, which included the facts that he had gone to Duke and U.S. Military Academy. Street thought a military background might help him land a job, so he did what he’d done many, many times before: The man with 13 previous convictions and 11 prison sentences pretended to be someone he wasn’t.
6. Justin Bieber impersonator accused of more than 900 child-sex crimes
7. Ottawa man charged with impersonating dentist wins bail
Ottawa’s Omar Anwar won bail on Friday after being arrested on charges that he impersonated a dentist and forged medical school records in a failed bid to take dental exams at McGill University in May. This type of alleged identity fraud is so rare that the National Dental Examining Board of Canada (NDEB) said it has seen it only twice in the past two decades. Police said Anwar, 29, worked as a dental assistant at two Ottawa clinics.
The criminal investigation began after the NDEB called Ottawa police saying someone had attempted to take dental exams on May 27-28 with falsified credentials. In order to write the exam, applicants must have a degree from an accredited dental school. The investigation revealed that Anwar allegedly accessed the University of Minnesota credentials of a real dentist and then applied online to take the dental exams. (Anwar is also charged with uttering a forged document.)
A handcuffed Anwar appeared in court on Friday and won bail right away. His defence lawyer, Paolo Giancaterino, said his client is looking forward to telling his side of the story. Anwar was released on conditions that he live at his family home in Alta Vista and that he not work at dental clinics. The reputed imposter is also charged with false pretense for landing those jobs, police said. He was also charged with uttering forged documents for a series of alleged fake resumés.
8. The crazed felon out on bail posing as an Uber driver
In April 2016, Dartanyun Lamar Smith, a convicted felon out on bail, posed as an Uber driver and picked up a woman in downtown Los Angeles. He then drove a couple of blocks and began beating and sodomizing her, choking her into unconsciousness three times. Neighbors who heard the victim's screams called the police. They smashed open the windows of the SUV and fired a shot at the rapist that missed. The man drove off, later dumping his prey and escaping capture. Eventually, he was caught, charged with rape and assault on a police officer, and now faces life in prison.
9. Exam scam: Chinese students charged with hiring imposter to take US college English tests
Yue Wang, a Chinese student at Hult International Business School in Cambridge, agreed to sit for the TOEFL, the English-language exam widely used to assess foreign applicants, for the trio, federal prosecutors in Boston said. Shikun Zhang, 24, Leyi Huang, 21, and Xiaomeng Cheng, 21, used the exam scores to gain admission to Northeastern University, Penn State University and Arizona State University, respectively, according to prosecutors.
Zhang, Huang and Cheng paid Wang, 25, nearly US$7,000 take the test after they had failed to meet the universities’ minimum scores, according to charging documents. After they were admitted, the three were issued student visas by the US State Department. They face immigration-related charges of conspiring to defraud the United States, prosecutors said.
“By effectively purchasing passing scores, they violated the rules and regulations of the exam, taking spots at US colleges and universities that could have gone to others,” William Weinreb, acting US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said in a statement. Wang, who was also in the United States on a student visa, was arrested in New Jersey, while Zhang, Huang and Cheng were arrested in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Arizona, respectively, authorities said. A lawyer for Zheng did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Lawyers for the other defendants could not be immediately determined.
10. Justin Bieber Impersonator Lee Moir Jailed In Child Sex Case
Authorities in Canada have arrested a Justin Bieber impersonator for the alleged sexual abuse of a 12-year-old New Jersey girl. Charges against 34-year-old Lee Moir, of Toronto, Ontario, include luring a child under 16, manufacturing child pornography and extortion. According to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Moir initially posed as the 18-year-old pop sensation on Facebook. It was through the social networking website that he met his young victim, authorities said in a press release.
Moir allegedly enticed the young girl to perform sexual acts on her webcam. The girl initially complied, but later ceased communication. It was then, police say, that the man repeatedly threatened to harm the victims’ family. When the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office was notified about the alleged crimes, they contacted Toronto Police Services. The Canadian agency launched a parallel investigation, which included the use of an undercover officer who posed as a 14-year-old girl.
Moir allegedly engaged in sexual conversations with the undercover officer and requested a meeting. On April 4, Moir allegedly went to meet the undercover officer, at which time he was arrested by Toronto police and charged with abusing the New Jersey girl.
1. Fake Denver plastic surgeon who performed tummy tucks and face lifts without anesthesia on 37 victims pleads guilty to illegally practicing and sexually assaulting clients
A Denver surgical assistant who posed as a plastic surgeon and operated on patients without anesthesia pleaded guilty to felony assault Friday. Carlos Hernandez Fernandez, 36, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and criminal impersonation - both felonies - as well as unauthorized practice of a physician, a misdemeanor. Hernandez Fernandez was arrested in August for performing tummy tucks and face-lifts on four women at Hernandez Fernandez Clinic at 424 South Federal Boulevard in Denver since January 2015, court documents show.
'No comment,' he said to reporters in Spanish as he walked out of the courtroom Friday after his plea hearing. In some cases, he used only local anesthesia instead of general and in other procedures he used none, the Denver Post reported. Hernandez Fernandez was initially charged with a combined 15 felony counts for assault, unlawful sexual contact and criminal impersonation. But more victims came forward, bringing the charges to 126 counts with 37 victims.
2. The David Lee Roth impersonator involved in a murderous Satanic love triangle
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| Getty Images |
Now, apparently, the party is over. Imitation Diamond Dave has been charged with a long list of sexual assaults against a number of women and children, and his live-in girlfriend has been put away for stabbing a rival for Kuntz's affection to death. The murderess claimed that Kuntz was a Satanist who used mind control to inspire her to proceed with the killing.
The imposter is awaiting trial.
3. The fake personal care aide who raped a brain damaged woman
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| Getty Images |
Are You Know?
Report says Chicago police violated civil rights for years
US agrees to pay billions to Marines affected by toxic water
Another winter-storm round to hit already-icy US midsection
4. 'Fake Firefighter' suspect to be charged
 |
| Getty Images |
Braunstein is expected to be arraigned in Tennessee on Monday, authorities said. Prosecutors plan to seek an arrest warrant charging Braunstein with attacking a female acquaintance in Manhattan in October, said Barbara Thompson, a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. New York police had been hunting for Braunstein, once a writer for Women’s Wear Daily, since early November.
Investigators wanted to question him about a Halloween attack in which a man dressed as a firefighter bluffed his way into a woman’s apartment after setting two small fires. The man knocked her out with a chemical-soaked rag, bound her and molested her for more than 13 hours, police said. In addition to kidnapping, New York prosecutors said they plan to charge him with burglary, robbery and sexual abuse.
5. Detroit's notorious impostor convicted — again
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| Getty Images |
The shackled, 64-year-old Plymouth Township man admitted that he stole the identity of a Maryland-based defense contractor in 2013, obtained the man’s college transcripts, diplomas and class ring from Duke University and the U.S. Military Academy, and then used the information to post a fake resume to CareerBuilder.com. Street also had a fake military ID that he used to get into college alumni functions and even spoke at one pretending to be a Duke grad.
Street assumed this identity after reading an article about a man running a marathon, which included the facts that he had gone to Duke and U.S. Military Academy. Street thought a military background might help him land a job, so he did what he’d done many, many times before: The man with 13 previous convictions and 11 prison sentences pretended to be someone he wasn’t.
6. Justin Bieber impersonator accused of more than 900 child-sex crimes
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| Getty Images |
A 42-year-old man in Australia has been charged with more than 900 child-sex crimes after police say he used photos of Justin Bieber to lure young fans into sending him explicit pictures, along with various other offenses. NBC reports that Gordon Douglas Chalmers, a law lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology, spent more than a decade posing as the pop star online, convincing hundreds of minors that they were communicating with Bieber. Chalmers was charged this past November for using the internet to procure and groom children for sex and to access child pornography. After police raided his home and searched his social media accounts, Chalmers was hit with 931 charges in total, including producing child-exploitation material, the indecent treatment of children, and rape. Chalmers’ alleged victims number upwards of 150 children from all around the world, including 50 in the U.S. alone.
As noted by Detective Inspector Jon Rouse, part of the task force investigating Chalmers, the use of Bieber as bait should raise the alarm for all parents of his fans—or those of any celebrity. “The fact that so many children could believe that they were communicating with this particular celebrity highlights the need for a serious rethink about the way that we as a society educate our children about online safety,” Rouse said in a statement, calling the staggering, global extent of his crimes “frankly horrendous.” The New York Times cites a recent study from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on how the wealth of personal information available on social media, the “relatively high education levels” and technological savvy of child abusers, and the naïveté of children when it comes to online safety have all contributed to a recent surge of child-related sex crimes orchestrated through the internet.
Add in the popularity of someone like Justin Bieber—who boasts a 92 million-strong Twitter following, and whose “accessibility” to his young fans is part of his appeal—and you have the makings of a perfect storm of vulnerability, easily exploited by online predators. Chalmers is currently in custody awaiting arraignment, but unfortunately, there are many more like him out there—and an endlessly renewable resource of kid-friendly stars that can be used the same way.
7. Ottawa man charged with impersonating dentist wins bail
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| Getty Images |
The criminal investigation began after the NDEB called Ottawa police saying someone had attempted to take dental exams on May 27-28 with falsified credentials. In order to write the exam, applicants must have a degree from an accredited dental school. The investigation revealed that Anwar allegedly accessed the University of Minnesota credentials of a real dentist and then applied online to take the dental exams. (Anwar is also charged with uttering a forged document.)
A handcuffed Anwar appeared in court on Friday and won bail right away. His defence lawyer, Paolo Giancaterino, said his client is looking forward to telling his side of the story. Anwar was released on conditions that he live at his family home in Alta Vista and that he not work at dental clinics. The reputed imposter is also charged with false pretense for landing those jobs, police said. He was also charged with uttering forged documents for a series of alleged fake resumés.
8. The crazed felon out on bail posing as an Uber driver
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| Getty Images |
9. Exam scam: Chinese students charged with hiring imposter to take US college English tests
 |
| Getty Images |
Zhang, Huang and Cheng paid Wang, 25, nearly US$7,000 take the test after they had failed to meet the universities’ minimum scores, according to charging documents. After they were admitted, the three were issued student visas by the US State Department. They face immigration-related charges of conspiring to defraud the United States, prosecutors said.
“By effectively purchasing passing scores, they violated the rules and regulations of the exam, taking spots at US colleges and universities that could have gone to others,” William Weinreb, acting US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said in a statement. Wang, who was also in the United States on a student visa, was arrested in New Jersey, while Zhang, Huang and Cheng were arrested in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Arizona, respectively, authorities said. A lawyer for Zheng did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Lawyers for the other defendants could not be immediately determined.
10. Justin Bieber Impersonator Lee Moir Jailed In Child Sex Case
 |
| Getty Images |
Moir allegedly enticed the young girl to perform sexual acts on her webcam. The girl initially complied, but later ceased communication. It was then, police say, that the man repeatedly threatened to harm the victims’ family. When the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office was notified about the alleged crimes, they contacted Toronto Police Services. The Canadian agency launched a parallel investigation, which included the use of an undercover officer who posed as a 14-year-old girl.
Moir allegedly engaged in sexual conversations with the undercover officer and requested a meeting. On April 4, Moir allegedly went to meet the undercover officer, at which time he was arrested by Toronto police and charged with abusing the New Jersey girl.
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