Crime & Safety
Police: Moorestown Woman Conned Into Paying $1M for 'Protection'
Moorestown Police say Linda Gerber, of Lumberton, tricked the victim into paying her $1 million over the course of a year by claiming she was protecting her from harm.
A Lumberton woman conned a Moorestown woman out of $1 million over a period of a year by convincing the victim she had to pay the money “to prevent illness or evil from befalling” the victim or her daughter, police said.
Moorestown Police arrested Linda Gerber, 49, of the unit block of Ridge Avenue, Lumberton, on Wednesday at her Mount Laurel-based business, Therapeutic Solutions. The warrant charged her with one count of theft by deception.
Sgt. Lee Lieber said Gerber swindled the Moorestown victim out of $1 million between July 2011 and August 2012 by "purporting to be providing a service to the victim to keep her from harm." He declined to provide further specifics, as the investigation is ongoing.
Lieber said the victim recently realized she was being conned and came to the police, who took Gerber into custody with the assistance of Mount Laurel Police and the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.
Gerber was lodged at the Burlington County Jail Women’s Facility in Pemberton on $75,000 bail. She’ll appear before a judge on Tuesday.
The investigation is ongoing, police said.
Information provided by Moorestown Police. An arrest does not indicate a conviction.
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