Facing sentencing Monday for swindling more than $4.5 from elderly clients by peddling fake insurance policies, a scam artist instead jumped off a Brooklyn pier.
Disgraced insurance broker Paul Simoneschi, 70, of Staten Island survived the dive off the 69th Street Pier in Bay Ridge, and was in stable condition at Lutheran Medical Center, law-enforcement sources said.
The extent of his injuries was not immediately clear. Defense attorney Matthew Mari had previously said his client was in poor health.
Simoneschi faces up to 12 years in prison on charges of grand larceny as a hate crime — since all his victims were seniors — after taking a plea deal in January.
The insurance broker left some of his victims penniless, and currently owes $4,477,562 in restitution.
He was charged with scamming 13 seniors, until investigators discovered others who didn’t even realize they’d been swindled.
Simoneschi was out on bail to finalize his affairs, but given Sunday’s incident he will be returned to the care of the court until a new sentencing date can be set.
