A Los Banos man, 40, was arrested at dawn on May 30 after deputies say he drove to an elderly couple's home to collect cash they had been frightened into withdrawing. The couple lost about $28,000. The man at the door was the last link in a chain that started with a phone call.
A $154,000 elder fraud case in a small Westmoreland County township was handed off from local police to the U.S. Secret Service this week. The size of the loss is ordinary. The handoff is the tell.
A Houston jeweler who designed pieces for NBA champions and Simone Biles is now accused of being the last link in a chain that turned a retiree's life savings into anonymous gold and shipped it out of the country. The indictment is recent. The pattern is old.