Illinois men arrested in Ionia Co. for alleged wire fraud

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Ionia County officials have arrested and arraigned two Illinois men on charges related to an alleged wire fraud scam targeting a 72-year-old Ionia County woman.

Jainav Sanjaykumar Patel, 25, of Carbondale, Ill., and Alonzo Lee Waheed, Jr., 27, of Marion Ill., are both lodged at Ionia County Jail on the charge of Conspiracy to Commit False Pretenses–$20,000 or more, but Less Than $50,000.

Officials set each of the two men’s bond at $25,000.

An Ionia Sheriff’s Office Deputy stopped the two men who were in an out-of-state rental car earlier this month in Ionia County. After continued questioning, officials lodged each of the men at Ionia County Jail on a charge of Conspiracy to Commit False Pretenses–$20,000 or more, but less than $50,000.

Ionia County began the wire fraud investigation last Friday, May 17. A 72-year-old Easton Township woman had become the victim of a scam that started with her computer tablet displaying a phone number for “Technical Support.”

When the woman called the number, a person on the line claimed to be from the Federal Trade Commission and that her accounts had been compromised in an identity theft in a different state.

The alleged scammers then told the woman that her money wasn’t safe in the banks and that he would be sending federal agents to her home to pick up money that she had withdrawn from the bank and put into a box. She then gave more than $40,000 to the people claiming to be “federal agents,” who came to her home on May 9.

A week after that, the woman received another call asking for more money for “safekeeping.” At that point, the woman’s relative realized she had been scammed and contacted law enforcement officials.

Ionia County Sheriff’s officials wrote that “the persons on the phone with the victim in this case were based overseas, using various anonymity apps to hide their identities and call spoofing to seem like the phone calls were really coming from the FTC.”

Officials said further charges against the suspects are likely. The sheriff’s office is reviewing electronic data to identify other people whom the suspects may have targeted.

They are working to recover money for the victims of the wire fraud scheme.

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