Crime Time

Texan who bilked quadriplegic gets 3-year sentence

Marcus Meehan of Texas knew that a Delaware senior citizen was a quadriplegic able to communicate only with computer assistance. That didn't stop him from bilking the man out of about $200,000 in a rare coin scam, the Delaware attorney general says. Working for a Port Arthur, Texas, company called Texas Eagle Reserve, Meehan sold the man the coins at grossly inflated prices, and he pleaded guilty to theft. According to a broadcast report, the prosecutor told that court that Meehan said in his confession that he was taught how to lie, manipulate and pray with his clients over the phone so they would trust him. Take a look at the kind of guy who would do this, from a photo in the Delaware News Journal. Now, imagine him in prison for the next three years. The judge also told him to repay the victim.

 

Crime is (almost) all in the family in oil & gas scheme

A fraudulent investment scheme allowed a 69-year-old Plano ex-con and his two sons to live the good life. They had luxury vehicles, owned a Picasso, expensive jewelry and wine, boats, jade and antiques. They won't be enjoying them much from their new location, in federal prison. U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks announced Thursday that father William Anthony Rand, was sentenced to five and one-half years in prison, and sons Gregory Keith Rand, 46, and William Nicholas Rand, 41, both of Dallas, had been sentenced to 18 years and 14 years, respectively. They also ordered to pay $99.7 million in restitution and to forfeit other ill-gotten property. Another son, Mark Albert Rand, 45, of Plano is awaiting sentencing, as is another man, Joel William Petersen, 44, of Frisco. Operating Aspen Exploration, the managing partner of oil and gas well programs, among other things the men forgot to tell investors some pertinent details, such as the elder Rand's Arkansas convictions for bank fraud and money laundering and his previous time in federal prison.  

DPS worker who sold fake driver licenses gets 60-day sentence

Maritza De Leon, a long-time Texas Department of Public Safety employee, took $10,000 to help a man posing as a Mexican drug cartel leader get a driver license.Turns out, the man was an FBI informant and helped police bust a driver license selling ring, The Monitor reported Friday. Last week in McAllen, De Leon, who told a judge she had sold fake driver licenses at least 15 times since 2003, was sentenced to 60 days in prison and two years of probation. To the judge's frustration, federal sentencing guidelines for most of the ring members call for less than 6 months behind bars.

 

Loan officers facing prison in local mortgage scheme

No one seems to have a corner on dishonesty. Real estate agents, mortgage brokers, property appraisers, title company attorneys, property flippers and escrow officers were among 40 people who conspired to get loans on properties with inflated values, prosecutors say. The scheme worked for a while. They got homes in Arlington, Fort Worth, Keller, Roanoke, Southlake and other cities, according to an indictment. So far, 37 people have pleaded guilty. Last week, a jury convicted two other North Texas women  - loan officers who falsified loan applications. Each faces up to 20 years in federal prison. The final defendant goes to trial this fall.

FBI report: Investigators dig up the dirt on phony funeral scam

Poor old Uncle Jim died and was buried.

Or did he, and was he?

The answer to both is no, according to the FBI in its report on a scam uncovered in which a group of alleged con artists in Los Angeles created a fake relative, phony documents and a bogus funeral -- complete with actors posing as mourners -- in order to scam insurance companies out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

You can read the FBI report on this type of crime at the agency's website here.

-- Lance Murray

Handyman accused of swindling $650,000 from 94-year-old woman

Driveway salt: $950.

Seven garage door openers: $2,500 each.

The security of a 94-year-old woman: Priceless.

At least it should be.

Prosecutors in Ebensburg, Pa., say that a handyman bilked the 94-year-old woman out of more than $650,000 by charging her outlandish prices such as those above.

The 56-year-old man, who prosecutors say the woman trusted like a son, is on trial accused of swindling the woman, the Associated Press reported.

-- Lance Murray

Feds seize $7 million building in alleged investment scam

Gimme that building!

The feds have seized a $7 million building in Brooklyn, alleging it was the home of an investment scheme by three men who actually invoked the name of Cowboys great Roger Staubach to dupe their clients, according to reports.

The three men told investors that Staubach and entertainer Gloria Estefan were on their advisory board. They weren't.

Prosecutors say the men stole about $6 million from investors in the bogus businesses, one of which advertised that it represented the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea and Seal. It didn't.

-- Lance Murray

Woman falls for Nigerian e-mail scam to tune of $400,000

The Nigerian e-mail scam has been around for years, and most of us know not to fall for it.

You know the one where someone promises you hundreds of thousands of dollars if you'll only send them $1,000 to help free up the money. Sometimes its a businessman. Sometimes it's a prince who's trying to flee his homeland. But every time, it's a scam.

Well, a woman in Oregon is out about $400,000 after falling for the scam. Reportedly she kept sending money even after family and bank officials told her it was a scam, because she was obsessed with getting the payoff.

She mortgaged the house, borrowed against the family car and looted her husband's retirement account, according to reports

-- Lance Murray

Police: Homeless man dupes 13 women by claiming to be millionaire

Be wary of someone telling you they're a millionaire.

Police say a homeless man in Pennsylvania has been charged with scamming 13 women out of more than $100,000 by telling them he was a millionaire, Grammy-nominated record mogul who needed investors for a new venture.

He met the women using a laptop computer on Millionairematch.com. He was using the money to feed his gambling addiction, authorities said.

-- Lance Murray

'Operation Can Scam': It's right out of Seinfeld

Remember the Seinfeld episode from 1996 in which Kramer and Newman try to drive to Michigan to cash in a truckload of 5-cent bottles from New York because of Michigan's 10 cent deposit law?

Well, Fox News reports that 13 people have been arrested in what authorities are calling a scam right out of the sitcom about, well, nothing. But, authorities say what happened in "Operation Can Scam" is really something and not a laughing matter. Police seized about $500,000 and 15 people are named in a 67-count warrant.

-- Lance Murray