Suspect charged with scamming 17 victims of over $35,000 in fraudulent rental deposits from those seeking Malden apartments

MALDEN – Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Malden Chief of Police Glenn Cronin announced that Kenneth Riel, 50, of Winthrop, was arrested and charged with eleven counts of larceny over $1,200, six counts of larceny and one count of false entries or omissions in corporate books.

Riel is alleged to have stolen over $35,000 in down payments and security deposits from individuals seeking to rent apartments in Malden.

In the fall of 2023, the defendant started as the property manager of a multi-unit apartment complex in Malden. Over the course of his employment, he allegedly directed rental applicants to submit money orders to him for deposits on apartments, directing the prospective tenants to leave the payee and payor information blank.

These thefts were discovered after Riel’s employment ended, when applicants came to the apartment complex seeking keys, or information about when their apartment would be ready. The new manager immediately directed the victims to the Malden Police.

The investigation allegedly revealed that 17 people reported providing the defendant payments that were never documented with the management company. The defendant then completed the money orders, writing his name or the names of family members, as the payee of the orders, rather than the management company. In one instance, a renter provided a payment to Mr. Riel through the cash transfer mobile application Zelle, which investigators allegedly tracked to his personal Zelle account.

When the applicants followed up with the defendant about the apartments, he made excuses for the delays, repeatedly telling one victim that the inspection of the apartment was delayed for months.

“In this case the defendant allegedly took advantage of victims, many of whom were non-English speaking immigrants, seeking housing. Using his position he allegedly took the victims’ money for his own personal use, stealing not only their money but their opportunity to rent an apartment they had been led to believe they had secured,” said District Attorney Ryan.

The defendant was arraigned December 19, 2024, in Malden District Court before Judge Francis Kenneally. Bail was set at $10,000. Riel was due back in court for a pretrial conference this week.