elderly

Published on: October 11, 2017

Auto Broker Cheats Car Buyers and Sellers out of Millions

Scott Radtke, owner of California Motoring Company in Clovis, CA works as a broker by matching interested buyers with sellers of automobiles. Court documents allege Radtke conned at least $2.8 million from 17 car dealerships, 11 financial institutions and 48 customers through fraudulent car sales transactions.

Beginning in September 2016 the Department of Motor Vehicles started receiving several complaints from Radtke’s customers who had purchased cars and never received titles or registration, and car dealerships that never received money for sales. DMV issued a statement that they have a zero tolerance policy for business conducted in this manner and they opened an investigation.

Radtke is suspected of employing several methods of stealing money from clients, many of whom were reported as elderly. Some of the accusations include scamming customers who had purchased vehicles for which he accepted payment. He then forged their names on fraudulent loan applications or payment plans from lenders for thousands of dollars over the amount of the initial transactions, which would force them by contract to foot the bill for their purchased vehicle a second time. Another alleged ploy took the form of accepting and selling trade-in vehicles without giving customers the money he had acquired from the sales.

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Published on: October 10, 2017

Man Faces over 200 Charges for Swindling Seniors with Sweepstakes Scam

by Staycie R. Sena

Louisville resident Kingsley I. Ekpendu has been accused of targeting elderly people using a hoax consisting of telling them they had won cash prizes in a sweepstakes. He allegedly extorted money from the assumed winners after sending them counterfeit checks to deposit into their bank accounts. He then asked that they overnight money to a specified address. It is suspected that he was able to con hundreds of thousands of dollars from people in this manner.

Police stated that between September 2 and October 4 Ekpendu allegedly mailed letters to three or more addresses announcing they were winners of the Publishers Clearing House Super Cash Giveaway. The letters held fraudulent checks for amounts between $6,000 and $8,000, and instructions to deposit the check and overnight mail an amount ranging from $5,200 to $7,000 in order to claim their winnings.

Law enforcement received information from a local shipping company who became suspicious of the number and size of the packages being delivered to an address that appeared to be a vacant dwelling. Ekpendu received the first two of the three packages, and police intervened before he was able to get the third.

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Published on: September 15, 2017

Elderly Woman Sexually Assaulted in Garden Grove

by Staycie R. Sena

Police received a call in the early morning hours on Sunday, September 10th concerning a woman who was lying on the ground outside. When they arrived at the scene they discovered a 68-year-old Garden Grove woman who appeared to be the victim of an assault. It was announced that she was in critical condition, and after three days of treatment she still remains in the hospital.

The police found the alleged attacker, 30-year-old Garden Grove resident Michael Varela, at the scene. Varela was taken into custody for attempted murder and attempted sexual assault, and is being held at the Orange County Jail.

If you or someone you love is suspected of attempted murder or sexual assault, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.