INDIANAPOLIS
Indianapolis police are looking for a man wanted on charges of forgery and impersonation of a public servant and are concerned that he might have more victims.
Police said Mark Hoffman, 39, identified himself to a 65-year-old woman as a building inspector and duped her out of nearly $5,000 over the course of several weeks.
Officers began their investigation of Hoffman on Dec. 19, after the woman contacted the Department of Code Enforcement.
Police said Hoffman knocked on the victim's door in November, telling her he was a DCE worker and presented paperwork indicated that an unlicensed contractor had repaired her home and that she would be fined.
"The male advised her that if she did not pay the fines, a lien would be placed on her property," part of a police report read.
The woman said she wrote two checks, one for $165 and another for $1,218, payable to Mark Hoffman, who the main claimed was his supervisor at DCE.
Police said Hoffman contacted the woman twice later that month, first telling her that he needed another $662 and later telling her he needed more than $1,000 more purportedly for tax violations.
The woman told police that the man came to her home again in early December and told her that she had been awarded nearly $15,000 but that she needed to pay him another $1,383.
The woman said she went to the Department of Code Enforcement after she tried to call the man twice after the last check was cashed.
Police said Hoffman lived in the 4600 block of West Perry Street but has since moved. Investigators said they think he is staying with the family of Sabrina Koenig, 27, and that both have been seen in Mars Hill and Beech Grove.
"There is a concern that Mr. Hoffman will continue to victimize elderly persons if not apprehended," said Indianapolis police Sgt. Linda Jackson.
Police asked anyone with information about Hoffman to call them.
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