Man held in rental scam back in jail

Arrested last month after allegedly scamming more than $4,000 from seven would-be tenants who believed he was a landlord, Paul Bakovich, of Kirkland, spent five days in jail before he bailed out.

Prosecutors say that within hours of his release from the King County Jail on Aug. 27, Bakovich was on the phone trying to swindle money from a 23-year-old man looking for a place to live. Bakovich is back in jail facing a new set of charges.

Bakovich appeared in a Seattle courtroom on Wednesday for his arraignment on four counts of second-degree theft in the most recent incident. He was already facing three counts of second-degree theft filed Aug. 26.

Bakovich, 36, was arrested Aug. 22 for fraudulently claiming to be a landlord and taking thousands of dollars in deposits from would-be renters, according to charging papers. He was arrested after one potential renter looked his name up on the Internet and found warnings from other people who said they had been scammed. But by that point the renter, a woman who was interested in a Redmond home, was out $900.

About 2-½ hours after bailing out of jail, Bakovich allegedly tried to collect money from another person interested in the Redmond home, according to charging papers filed in King County Superior Court.

The 23-year-old man, who talked to Bakovich about the rental property Aug. 27, alerted authorities after he started to fear he, too, had been scammed. King County sheriff's deputies worked with the man to set up a meeting with Bakovich at a Fred Meyer store in Kirkland, charging papers said.

Deputies showed up at the Aug. 28 meeting and arrested Bakovich.

Detectives said Bakovich told them he was meeting with the man to pay him back the $500, charging papers said. Bakovich said that he also planned to pay back Michelle Adame, the renter who paid him $900, charging papers said.

Adame met Bakovich after seeing a Craigslist ad for a three-bedroom house in Redmond for $885 per month. Bakovich told her that he had been unable to sell it and was taking it off the market. The house was in foreclosure and was never owned by Bakovich.

Adame said Wednesday that she's angry that Bakovich was rearrested for allegedly trying to scam someone else.

"I'm glad he's in jail. He's ruining people's lives. It's not fair what he's doing to people," Adame said.

Bakovich blamed his behavior on his addiction to OxyContin, charging papers said.

Bakovich is being held at the King County Jail on $60,000 bail.

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com