A 22-year-old Chicago man was arrested in a police operation in Illinois after he was found involved in a scam that cost a resident of Paw Paw (a village in Illinois) $40,000 last month.
Barth C. was charged. Patel was charged with theft by deception and attempted theft by deception following an investigation by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office into the alleged fraud.The victim was first contacted by someone claiming that his Apple account had been “hacked.” The caller then transferred the victim to someone posing as an FBI agent, who said money was needed to help catch the supposed “hacker.”The Paw Paw resident agreed to hand over $40,000 in cash. The money was collected from an address in the village on April 17 by an unknown person.The fraud did not end there. The fake FBI agent later called the victim again and demanded an additional $28,500.The police learned of the incident and opened an investigation. Detectives then arranged a controlled cash collection for Monday after the victim was asked to provide the additional money. The operation led to Patel’s arrest when he arrived to receive the money. He was taken into custody and booked into the Lee County Jail.
Battle was charged with theft by deception involving between $10,000 and $100,000, a second-degree felony under Illinois law, as well as attempted theft by deception involving the same amount, a third-degree felony.Patel appeared before a judge and was released pending further court proceedings under Illinois’ pretrial release law. A hearing in this case is scheduled for May 21.
