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Swindlers Busted in Target Parking Lot After Stealing $120K from O’Fallon Man | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

September 26, 2023

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click to enlarge Courtesy O’Fallon PD Booking photo of Ankurkumar Patel, allegedly a member of an interstate scheme that swindled an elderly Missouri man out of more than $120,000.

Three members of an international group of swindlers who allegedly scammed an elderly Missourian out of more than $120,000 were arrested after being set up in a police sting that went down in a Target parking lot on Monday.

The police probable cause statement says that Ankurkumar Patel, 42, of Wisconsin, and two other men met with the elderly victim on Monday in the parking lot of the store in O’Fallon, Missouri, intending to pick up another $144,000 from the trunk of his car. Patel later told police it was the fourth time he’d picked up cash in this manner. He is now facing charges of felony stealing and is in St. Charles County Jail.

Police say that the scam Patel was part of began in August when suspects contacted the elderly man in St. Charles County and claimed to work for the U.S. Department of the Treasury and other federal agencies. They told him his money could no longer be used because he’d been a victim of identity theft and that he needed to transfer the money to federal authorities so that it could be “rendered usable” and then returned back to him.

The suspects running the scam told the elderly victim that he needed to transfer the money to them by driving around to “various parking lots in St. Charles” where they would remove the money from his trunk.

The elderly man did as the scammers instructed, meeting with the men he thought were federal agents in three different area parking lots and businesses, handing over approximately $129,000.

But then, on September 17, according to Sergeant Bryan Harr with the O’Fallon Police Department, the elderly man walked into police headquarters and explained he’d been scammed out of the six-figure sum.

Harr says that the department wanted to make the most of the fact that the scammers were still in contact with the victim and that, unlike other financial scams, the cash was being handed off in person rather than via wire transfers.

Officers worked with the victim to make it appear as if he was still being fooled. Working with the officers, he arranged with the scammers to turn over another $144,000 in cash to them.

On Monday, the alleged scammers asked the victim to send a photo confirming he actually had the $144,000 in cash. The police came up with enough currency to make it look like the victim was following the scammers’ instructions. They rolled the bills with rubber bands, put them in a cardboard box and sent the photo of the cash to the scammers. Both parties arranged to meet at the Target in O’Fallon.

click to enlarge Courtesy O’Fallon PD The photo of the cash sent to the alleged scammers to lure them to the Target parking lot, where police swooped in.

Patel and two other men showed up driving a Camry to meet the elderly man outside the Target. Patel removed from the victim’s trunk a box he thought contained the funds — but actually contained only a piece of wood.

Officers then moved in, arresting Patel and the two others without incident.

Back at the police station, Patel admitted he was involved in a “multi-state fraud ring.” He allegedly told police he didn’t know how much money he’d collected from victims, but said that he had successfully collected money from marks at least three times previously. He said he’d been working with the same co-conspirators in those incidents as well.

Court documents describe Patel as “part of an international fraud ring.” However, Patel told police that he is “currently being exploited by an old acquaintance from India” to whom he owes $60,000 for protection of Patel’s family. Harr, with the O’Fallon Police Department, says that the case has been handed over to Homeland Security.

The other two suspects were released pending police applying for charges against them.

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

12 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

12 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

12 months ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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