EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — At the Super 8 hotel just off I-94 in Eau Claire Wisconsin, police arrested 40-year-old Chetankumar Patel for an alleged scam plot that lured a 69-year-old man from Andover and resulted in a missing-person report.
According to a criminal complaint charging Patel with theft, the victim received a phone call about Apple products being charged to his account.
Police haven't revealed more details about that call except to say the 69-year-old man hung up, then drove to Eau Claire with $32 thousand cash to give to someone he thought was the FBI.
After he paid the money, court papers say the 69-year-old realized it was a scam.
Meanwhile, in Anoka County, a family member of the victim reported him missing because he was not heard from for a few hours after leaving the home following the suspicious call.
Deputies reached the 69-year-old at the Super 8. There, Eau Claire cops found Patel.
According to the complaint, they asked him to be honest, and Patel pointed to a box on his hotel room nightstand that contained the $32,000, which police returned to the victim.
Patel allegedly told police he was collecting money for a contact he met in Kansas at a religious event and that he was supposed to deliver the money to Chicago the next morning.
Eau Claire police say earlier in the week, another victim lost $60,000 cash after a courier picked it up from the person's apartment and another $29,000 to someone claiming to be FBI — showing that these types of scams still sometimes involve person-to-person contact.
Questions remain in these cases but Eau Claire police wouldn't give more details, saying they are working to find more victims. Chetankumar Patel is charged with theft and has bailed out of jail.