The man poses as a rabbi, a lawyer and a cop; Spends $15,000 on Dead Woman’s Credit Card, Police Say

The man accused of spending $15,000 on a deceased woman’s credit card has a long history of fraud, according to police, court records and his family.

Police say Dustin Mitchell, nicknamed Dustin Cohen, posed as a rabbi, a lawyer and possibly a cop to scam people. They also say he believes he spray-painted anti-Semitic vandalism on his own truck.

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Court records indicate he was charged with fraud-related crimes in Missouri as early as 2006. In 2017 and 2018, records indicate he posed as an attorney in the Dallas area. He was convicted of these crimes and served time in prison.

His new charges include four counts related to fraud.

“Additionally, he is under investigation for creating several fictitious nonprofit organizations,” said Houston Police Detective Brian Tsai.

The woman whose credit card he allegedly stole was a member of a congregation he was affiliated with, police said.

Chabad of West Houston confirmed that Mitchell was their director of operations, but is no longer.

“As a prison chaplain/rabbi, I believe that people are capable of rehabilitating and leading successful lives…so, I am personally incredibly saddened and disappointed by the news of Mr. Mitchell’s charges. All this happened to our congregation while “It’s a huge surprise. As the weeks and months go by, we will cooperate as much as possible with law enforcement. We hope there will be no further damage that has not yet been discovered,” Rabbi Goldstein said in a statement.

Travis Mitchell, Dustin’s brother, says that his entire adult life he has known his brother as a con artist. He says his brother victimized him in 2011, when he was going through the most difficult time of his life.

“My wife and I lost our second child. Dustin stepped in and said, ‘I’ll help you, I’ll help you organize a fundraiser.’ He did all that, and well, the funeral home never got the money,” he said.

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He estimates that the number of victims linked to his brother’s fraudulent activities is in the hundreds.

“He finds people who are hurt, he finds weakness. And he feeds off that. Like right now with the Jewish community there,” he said.

He said he’s glad to know Dustin is being held without bail and glad an investigation caught up with him.

Houston police say their entire investigation into Mitchell began when Mitchell called them to report a hate crime. He told police that someone spray-painted “Fu** Israel” on his truck.

Dustin even posted on his YouTube page in March when he did the report.

Police said that during their investigation, they discovered that Mitchell’s story did not hold water.

“We think he painted it himself. We found spray paint bottles the same color as the spray paint on his truck,” Detective Tsai said.

That led police to dig deeper into Mitchell, uncovering his past in Missouri and Dallas, and then finding new evidence of fraud here.

“I would like to see him put in prison for the rest of his life,” Travis said.

Mitchell is being held without bail in the Harris County Jail.

If you think you may have been a victim of Mitchell’s disease, contact Major Offenders at (713) 308-3100.