Nature of Incident: Grand Theft Suspects Arrested
Report Number: 152018144
Location: 800 Block South Westlake Blvd., Thousand Oaks CA 91362
Date & Time: 08/14/2015 @ 8:00 PM
Unit Responsible: Thousand Oaks Police Investigations, Thousand Oaks Police Special Enforcement Unit
(S)uspects, (V)ictims, (P)arty, (D)ecedent City of Residence Age
(S) Beverly Faye Hudson San Jose 57
(S) Tony Raymon Cobb Salinas 52
(S) Chanelle Patrice Walker Salinas 19
Narrative:
On August 14, 2015, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office arrested three suspects regarding a sweepstakes scam that defrauded the victim out of a large amount of money.
On August 14, 2015, a local bank in Thousand Oaks reported having a female victim inside their branch requesting to withdraw a large sum of money. It was learned this same person had visited several local banks on August 13, 2015 and August 14, 2015 and made multiple cash withdrawals.
The victim made the withdrawals after being contacted by a person identifying himself as a representative for cash sweepstakes. She was told she won $800,000 dollars, but could not collect the prize money until she paid the appropriate amount of taxes. The alleged spokesperson directed the victim to make withdrawals from her bank until she had enough money to pay the taxes in full.
On August 13, 2015, the victim was instructed to meet an employee of the cash sweepstakes at a business in Thousand Oaks. The victim did as instructed and gave this person all the money she had withdrawn from her account. On August 14, 2015, the victim was again contacted by the representative for the alleged cash sweepstakes and told she needed to pay additional taxes before she could collect her cash prize. The victim was in the process of withdrawing more money when she realized she was the victim of a scam.
Detectives with the Thousand Oaks Police Department immediately started investigating the matter and developed leads in the case. Three suspects were identified and arrested for grand theft and conspiracy to commit a crime. Nearly all the stolen money was recovered.
The three suspects were booked into Ventura County Jail with their bail sought at $250,000 dollars. They will be arraigned in Superior Court on August 18, 2015.
The Thousand Oaks Police Department would like to remind all of its residents to be cautious of calls or notifications telling them they have won a grand prize but requiring them to pay money before they can collect it. The Police Department encourages residents to report all suspicious calls to determine the legitimacy of these organizations. Additionally, if you believe you have been targeted by a prize scam, report it to the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov
Prepared by: Sergeant Alan Hartkop
Media Release Date: August 14, 2015
Media Follow-Up Contact: Senior Deputy William Hutton
(805) 947-8113 / [email protected]
Approved by: Captain Mike Hartmann
