A Manhattan fitness instructor named Jerry Genesis has been accused of running a large‑scale real‑estate scam that drained more than $100,000 from a group of prospective renters, in addition to defrauding a dozen of his own training clients.
New York prosecutors say Genesis pretended to own a number of apartments in sought‑after parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, offering them as sublets to unsuspecting customers. He would then charge huge move‑in fees—or “pretend” them to be legitimate—and keep the money before disappearing to Connecticut while on supervised release.
His criminal record already contains a separate indictment from February for a refund scheme that tricked at least ten people out of cash over the course of 2023. While the case was pending, Genesis skipped town, was apprehended in Stamford, Connecticut, during a three‑hour standoff, and then extradited back to New York City. Upon his return, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office added grand larceny and fraud charges to the indictment.
According to prosecutors, eight people signed bogus sublease agreements and paid a combined $101,692 between November 2024 and July 2025. “Jerry Genesis took advantage of New York’s extremely competitive housing market to steal hard‑earned money from eight individuals who trusted him to find them apartments,” the DA’s office quoted DA Alvin Bragg as saying. One victim even arrived at the alleged unit with his bags only to discover an eviction notice taped to the door.
Reports in the indictment state that Genesis not only advertised the properties in hot neighborhoods such as the East Village, Chinatown, Nolita, Chelsea, and Downtown Brooklyn but also arranged viewings and made “fake” paperwork appear official. He collected move‑in fees that ranged from $8,000 to $17,200, according to the filing. However, none of the renters actually gained legitimate tenancy in the units that Genesis claimed he was renting.
In a separate incident relating to the personal‑training fraud, a Yelp page linked to Genesis shows three reviews that accuse him of refusing to honor gym‑credit refunds, instead piling up unauthorized charges on clients’ credit cards. One victim recounted that he was charged over $22,000 that was never reversed, labeling the act as grand larceny.
A TikTok video from a former client claimed that Genesis stole nearly $10,000 from her after years of working out together. She posted a message on his Yelp page saying, “I feel ashamed that I fell for a scam, but he was someone I trusted. Please don’t let it happen to you.”
Under the current indictment, Genesis was ordered held without bail.
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