David Vyner, posed as doctor, lawyer and rabbi, Broward authorities say

David Vyner

He's on probation for practicing law without a license. He's charged with carrying a foreign diplomat's passport. He got a badge from a Broward hospital identifying him as a doctor and clergyman. His second wife believed he was a rabbi.

But David Vyner only has one true profession: con artist, according to the Broward sheriff's detective who spent months piecing together the Armenian immigrant's life in South Florida.

"One day he becomes a lawyer. One day he becomes a doctor. One day he becomes a rabbi," said Detective John Calabro. "He has delusions of grandeur."

Vyner, 36, is back in the Broward County Jail after authorities alleged he committed grand theft in his latest incarnation. He's accused of taking $1,050 from someone who believed Vyner was connected with the Russian Embassy and could push through the renewal of a Russian passport, according to court records.

The Hollywood resident is being held without bond, and immigration authorities have placed a detainer on him with the possibility of deportation looming. Vyner has been in such a situation before, though, and walked out of lockup.

When he was arrested April 30 in the latest case, he already was on probation from Broward Circuit Court, awaiting federal trial in Washington, D.C., in an identity theft case and had a pending immigration case as well.

There also is an active arrest warrant out for him from Newfoundland, Canada, where he is facing 20 criminal tax charges.

"It makes my blood boil just to hear his name," said Myles Malman, an attorney who represents a couple, Sergey and Tatiana Ponyatovsky, who told authorities they lost more than $250,000 to Vyner. "He's like a man of 1,000 faces and 1,000 names. He constantly changes his identity to fit the moment."

Vyner convinced the Ponyatovskys that he was an attorney who could help them with immigration issues, Malman said. The couple, like all of Vyner's alleged victims, were from South Florida's burgeoning Russian community, court records show.

"He's an ethnic predator," Malman said. "He plays on the Russian community, advertising in Russian in Russian publications. Of the people he preys upon, some don't speak or read English well and others are distrustful of non-Russian speakers."

Vyner also somehow managed to get an ID badge from Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood that identified him as an "MD" and "clergy," court records show. He's smiling in the ID photo with a stethoscope around his neck.

There are no indications in the court documents how long he had the badge.

In response to the Sun Sentinel's questions, Memorial Regional Hospital issued a statement.

"To maintain the safety and security of our campus, we will not discuss Mr. Vyner's former relationship with the hospital," wrote spokeswoman Kerting Baldwin. "What is important to note is that no staff or patients were affected.

Our security department took the necessary actions to handle this case and worked with law enforcement to bring Mr. Vyner to justice. Since the incident, the hospital has instituted additional security measures for all staff and volunteers who serve here, and these measures have further strengthened the screening process."

Vyner testified at a February 2011 hearing that he got a medical degree in Russia and also has been to rabbinical school. He said he ran a business that did translations and travel reservations.

But his first wife said in a sworn statement that he was never a licensed attorney or doctor anywhere. His second wife said in a deposition that he convinced her he was a rabbi, but that she now believes he was only "pretending to be very religious."

Vyner has gone by a variety of names through the years, including Bagrat Ambartsoumian, Pekrat Vayner and Bagrat Mochkarovsky, according to more than 500 pages of court documents, sworn statements and court transcripts reviewed by the Sun Sentinel.

Besides the variety of names and occupations, official records indicate he was married to his first wife and second wife at the same time. He obtained a Clark County, Nev., marriage certificate with his second wife in 2004, but the divorce from his first wife wasn't finalized in Broward County until 2006, according to court documents.

Vyner has said he isn't a bigamist because he had received an annulment from the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, where he wed his first wife, court records show. His second wife now has divorce proceedings pending against him. Both women declined to be interviewed by the Sun Sentinel and asked not to be identified in any articles.

Vyner has testified he fled from Armenia because he had been the victim of a "long, long history of persecution." He arrived in Newfoundland in 1998 where his attempt to apply for political asylum was denied.