Google Maps
The man worked in the business office of an Upper West Side senior living residence, where handling residents’ checks was simply part of the job. For more than four years, prosecutors now say, he quietly used that everyday access to drain money from some of the neighborhood’s most vulnerable people — including a 92-year-old in cognitive decline who allegedly lost more than $240,000.
Advertisement
Devon Ragnauth, 38, of the Bronx, has been indicted on more than a dozen felony and misdemeanor counts, including two counts of grand larceny in the second degree, three counts of identity theft in the first degree, and six counts of criminal possession of stolen property. In all, prosecutors allege he stole more than $400,000 from twenty-one residents and the residence itself between January 2021 and July 2025, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.The residence is Atria West 86, at 333 West 86th Street (between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue), ILTUWS has learned — an upscale community where studios start at $9,500 a month and two-bedrooms run as high as $16,400, according to rates currently posted on its website. In a statement, an Atria spokesperson said the company terminated Ragnauth once it learned of his alleged conduct. “We are aware that a former employee has been arrested,” the statement read. “When we became aware of the employee’s actions, we terminated the employee and have been working with local law enforcement during their investigation.”
ALSO READ: UWS Doorman Sentenced for Stealing Nearly Half a Million Dollars from Elderly Residents
“The defendant callously exploited his position in a senior living community to allegedly steal from nearly two dozen elderly New Yorkers,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in announcing the indictment. “One of the alleged victims was 92-years of age. Financial loss for older individuals can be absolutely devastating, and we will continue to use every tool available to address and prevent these types of pernicious schemes.”
The bulk of the alleged theft centered on that 92-year-old resident. Between July 2024 and July 2025, Ragnauth is accused of taking 143 checks worth more than $240,000 from the resident’s account. The checks were made out to a legitimate third-party homecare agency — but the resident never received any services from the company, prosecutors say, and the money instead landed in Ragnauth’s personal bank account. He also allegedly deposited a separate $12,000 check made out to the same resident.
Advertisement
The residence itself was a target, too. Prosecutors allege that between May 2021 and July 2025, Ragnauth intercepted 139 checks worth more than $148,000, many of them refunds owed to residents who had since moved out. He is also accused of adding a family member to the community’s books as an “entertainer” and submitting false invoices, prompting the residence to cut 17 checks totaling $11,000 that he then allegedly kept. In a separate stretch between January 2021 and December 2024, he is accused of stealing roughly 60 more checks from seventeen other residents, depositing the money into his own account and a relative’s.When a resident’s family member flagged a missing check in the fall of 2022 — one that appeared to have been deposited into his account — Ragnauth allegedly handed the residence falsified bank statements and deposit slips to cover his tracks. Prosecutors say he also used six residents’ credit cards to ring up more than $30,000 in purchases, including luxury clothing and vacations.
Have a news tip? Send it to us here!
