Couple scammed out of $50,000 in bogus credit card charges
By Paula Washington
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MACOMB COUNTY, Michigan (WWJ) — An elderly couple in Macomb County, Michigan, was scammed out of $50,000 with a claim that fraudulent charges were on their credit card for purchasing child pornography.
The Shelby Township Police Department detailed the circumstances in a press release issued Monday.
The suspect has been located in Ohio and extradited to Michigan.
“People that prey on the elderly are the most despicable type of criminals that I have dealt with in my 38+ years of law enforcement experience, and our department will use every available resource to identify and arrest these types of evil criminals,” Shelby Township Police Chief Robert Shelide said in his statement.
The investigation began April 5 when police became aware of the case, and given the age of the victims, the officers “made this case a priority immediately.”
A man had contacted the victims by email, claiming that there were pending fraudulent charges on their credit cards for purchasing child pornography. “The couple was advised to withdraw $50,000 from their bank account in order to prevent the charges from being successful,” the press release said.
“The suspect advised the couple to place the cash in a box, and an agent from the Treasury Department would come to their house to pick up the cash. The suspect also instructed the couple not to tell anyone.”
Two days later, a man drove from Toledo, Ohio, to the victims’ home in Shelby Township to pick up the box containing the cash.
Detective Thomas Verdura, who was assigned to the case, used search warrants and images from the FLOCK camera system to identify the suspect as Vedantkumar Bhupenbhai Patel, a 25-year-old man from India who lives in Toledo, Ohio.
Patel is not a U.S. resident and is in the country on a student visa, police added.
The investigation concluded that the stolen money had already been sent to India and that there may be other victims facing similar circumstances. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed a detainer on Patel, the press release added.
The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office authorized one charge each of false pretenses-$50,000 or more but less than $100,000 and larceny-$20,000 or more. Patel was taken into custody in Toledo and then extradited to Michigan.
Patel had an arraignment hearing on May 5 in 41-A District Court, where bond was set at $100,000 cash surety.
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