Cops follow money to make arrest in grandchild scam

New York man charged with receiving $20K sent by Port couple who thought grandson was in trouble

Scammers who trick older adults into sending them money by telling them their grandchildren are in trouble often get away with thousands of dollars and are never caught.

But with the help of their counterparts in Haverstraw, N.Y., Port Washington police officers tracked down a man they believe helped steal $20,000 from a Port couple more than a year ago using the grandchild scam.

Yearly Mata Conde, a 21-year-old Haverstraw, N.Y., resident, was charged last week in Ozaukee County Circuit Court with theft by false representation in connection with the scam.

The investigation that led authorities to Conde began on July 9, 2022, when a woman reported to police that her parents, who live in Port, were scammed out of $20,000, according to a criminal complaint.

The couple told police officer Gary Belzer they received a call from a man who had a foreign accent and identified himself as Thomas Wilson.

They said the man told them their grandson was in trouble and needed $20,000, then instructed them to send it in cash to an address he gave them via UPS next-day service.

The couple said they went to a BMO Bank and withdrew $20,000 in cash. When questioned by the teller about the withdrawal, the couple made up a story about using the money to remodel their basement because they believed they needed the cash to help their grandson, the complaint states.

The couple shipped the money via UPS next day as instructed. They gave the UPS receipt to Belzer, but by then the package was probably delivered.

The couple had the phone number of the man who identified himself as Wilson, and Belzer, posing as a relative of the couple, called it. A man with a foreign accent who identified himself as Thomas Wilson answered but said he was a plumber and knew nothing about the transaction. Not wanting to spook the man, Belzer hung up.

The phone number belonged to Skype and apparently did not provide authorities with any leads.

Officer Ryan Hurda then followed up by tracking the UPS package, which was delivered at 8:14 a.m. July 7, 2022, to an address in West Haverstraw, N.Y.

Hurda called the West Haverstraw Police Department, and an officer there was able to find security video from a church across the street from where the package was delivered that showed a man sitting on the front steps of a house take delivery of the package.

Conde and a woman named Nikaury Marte lived at the home at the time, according to the complaint.

Marte was arrested on July 29, 2022, in connection with a similar but separate scam during a sting operation conducted by the New York State Police. She was apprehended after receiving a package that contained $25,000 in cash, the complaint states.

Marte told authorities that Conde was the man seen in the video receiving the package containing the $20,000 from the Port Washington couple, according to the complaint.

When interviewed by a Haverstraw police detective, Conde said a man from New York City offered to pay him for receiving packages that were then picked up by a courier. For this service, Conde was paid 10% of the money in the package, the complaint states.

Conde admitted he received the package containing the Port couple’s money, according to the complaint.

Conde is charged as a party to the crime.

Theft by false representation is punishable by a maximum five years in prison and five years of extended supervision.

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Ozaukee Press

Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

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