Here's your frontrunner for strangest music-related crime story of 2010: According to the New York Post, a man named Rafael Ramos entered a Big Apple Citibank yesterday claiming he was Paul Simon and attempted to withdraw $4,300 out of the Graceland singer's bank account. Just to illustrate how absurd Ramos' con artist scheme was, the 68-year-old globally known Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is 5' 3'', while the 54-year-old Ramos stands a gigantic 6'1'' by comparison. Still, Ramos came to the Citibank sporting a forged credit card and driver's license bearing Simon's name, as well as the singer's social security number.
Despite the subterfuge, the teller — who perhaps was familiar with Simon after he and Art Garfunkel reunited at the Rock Hall 25th Anniversary concerts at Madison Square Garden — suspected that this "Paul Simon" wasn't in fact Paul Simon, and refused to allow Ramos to withdraw money. Ramos, realizing his master con had backfired, quickly ran out of the Citibank, but police scooped him up before he could impersonate another rocker.
He was charged with attempted larceny, the Post reports, and was soon sent to the hospital after telling officers that he was depressed. (Too much listening to "The Sounds of Silence," perhaps.) Simon told authorities that he didn't know Ramos, and that it's unclear how Ramos managed to get Simon's social security and bank account number.
