Robert Caballero and Gordon Jenkins Face Charges of Stealing $310,000 From the Poor

Why, stealing from poor people, of course!

And that's exactly what Robert Caballero and Gordon Jenkins are accused of doing, according to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance.

Vance indicted 53-year-old Caballero and 72-year-old Jenkins today on felony charges of stealing from low-income homeowners. He says they pocketed more than $310,000 from two separate Housing Development Fund Corporation co-ops.  

The specs? Caballero got stuck with felony charges of second-degree grand larceny (1 count), second-degree forgery (18 counts), second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument (18 counts) and falsifying business records (8 counts).

Jenkins's tally? He faces one count of second-degree grand larceny.

Caballero, who was the property manager at 172 Forsyth Street, in the Lower East Side, is said to have forged more than 150 checks from the building's bank account -- which was intended for the settlement's bills and maintenance costs (so...definitely not meant to line anyone's pockets).

Caballero (random fact: his name means "gentleman" in Spanish!) was only supposed to get paid $450 monthly, but cut himself checks for this amount weekly between January 2007 and July 2010, Vance claims in a statement. Those bogus notes and other fishy finance moves totaled around $260,000, Vance says.

Jenkins, on the other hand, served as treasurer of 136 West 133rd Street. Vance says that Jenkins used the Central Harlem building's debit card for himself, racking up nearly $50,000 in unauthorized charges.