November 30, 2023 – Dodge Co., WI – In May 2023, Dodge County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation when an elderly resident of Dodge County received a call that their grandson was in jail and needed money for bail, then gave that supposed bail money to a suspect who came to their residence and identified himself as a representative for their grandson’s attorney.
A detective with the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office utilized a forensic sketch artist to work with the victim and create a sketch of the suspect.
Through the subsequent investigation, the detective was able to identify the suspect as a Canadian national. The information led the detective to a joint investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The suspect is not being named at this time due to an ongoing investigation with other law enforcement agencies.
Last week, the suspect was indicted by a federal grand jury on several charges including the fraud in Dodge County. The FBI credited parts of the Dodge County detective’s investigation as being responsible for identifying an additional 11 victims of the suspect. Dodge County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank our partners at the FBI for their assistance with the case.
The suspect is currently being held in federal custody, and as in all cases, is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
It is becoming increasingly common for scammers to assume the identity of someone a victim knows in an attempt to obtain money from the victim. This can be done by phone call, social media account hacking, or other means. If you fall victim to one of these types of scams, contact your family members or the person the scammer is claiming to be. In many instances, if you make a phone call or go see the family member the scammer is claiming to be, they will let you know they are okay and they had never asked for money.
Questions can be directed to Sheriff Dale Schmidt.