The phone call was alarming. And convincing.
People posing as bank employees told a Treasure Island woman that her credit cards were compromised. But, they told her, they could help her get her money back.
What followed was an elaborate scheme culminating in the loss of $1.5 million in jewelry and precious metals, police say. On Friday, police chronicled the winding, monthslong investigation that resulted in the arrests of James Arthur Graves Graham Jr., 24, of Tampa and Alneshia Handy, 35, of Georgia. More arrests could be coming, police said.
The investigation began Feb. 10, when police were called to the woman’s home for a reported burglary, according to a search warrant filed in Pinellas County court. Investigators found no forced entry but discovered about $1.5 million worth of jewelry and precious metals were missing.
The woman, who is in her 70s, told investigators that she spoke to people who identified themselves as Bank of America and Chase Bank employees. They convinced her that her credit cards were compromised and that they would help her get back the $240,000 she allegedly had lost.
“This demonstrates how sophisticated, how aggressive these scams can become,” Treasure Island Police Chief John Barkley said during a news conference Friday.
The suspects directed the woman to wire $240,000 from her bank account to another named “Handy’s Helping Hand LLC,” which had an address in Georgia. The woman called her bank, which allowed her to make the transfer.
The suspects told the woman to make another wire transfer of $98,000. She was instructed to transfer the money to a second bank account in Fort Myers.
The woman called her bank and requested the transfer, but it was denied. The suspects told her those employees were involved in a crime ring, and that they would “come to her home with guns and rob her if she did not act quickly to secure her valuables,” according to the warrant.
“They rely on speed, they rely on confusion,” Barkley said. “They had her on the phone for over 4½ hours.”
The suspects told the woman to secure her valuables. She told the suspects she kept her items in a safe in the garage. The impersonators told her to open the safe and her garage. An unknown suspect then went to the woman’s home and took a majority of her valuables, the warrant states.
Neighborhood surveillance cameras and Flock cameras helped investigators identify the suspect vehicle as a white pickup truck. Police used Flock cameras to hone in on the truck’s license plate.
Police then connected Graham to the vehicle. Graham told investigators the truck was stolen, but a search warrant executed at Graham’s Tampa apartment found clothing “consistent with what he was wearing during the burglary,” Barkley said.
Graham was arrested in March on one count of first-degree grand theft and one count of second-degree burglary, Hillsborough jail records show. He was arrested again in April on a charge of failing to obey a written promise to appear in court.
Further investigation had police following leads in Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Georgia, Texas and California, Barkley said.
In late February, police spoke with an investigator in the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office, who said that they had learned the woman’s wire transfer was sent to an account owned by Handy, under the name “Handy Helping Hands LLC,” and that the account held a balance of $114,000 from the original transfer, according to the warrant.
Handy was arrested Sunday in DeKalb County, Georgia, and faces a charge of grand theft, according to a spokesperson for the Treasure Island Police Department.
Police recovered about 83% of the woman’s wire transfer money and returned it to her.
“That’s almost unheard of,” Barkley said.
Scammers, Barkley warned, are “professionals at creating fear and urgency.”
If someone is asking you to do something quickly, slow down, verify the information and end the call, Barkley said. He suggested calling local law enforcement if you’re suspicious of a call.
“They had her convinced that everybody was in on the scam,” Barkley said. “These scams can happen to intelligent and responsible people.”
