Waukesha County Courthouse
Brookfield, Wisconsin – A Milwaukee man is accused of taking nearly $20,000 from an elderly Brookfield woman earlier this month as part of a bail bond and attorney’s fee scam.
Maximiliano Mendez, 27, was charged with two counts of money laundering and one count of attempted money laundering. He was fined $100,000 and is being held in the Waukesha County Jail, according to court records.
According to a criminal complaint, the 87-year-old woman’s son contacted police to report her as the victim of a phone scam. The son told investigators that someone had called his mother, claiming to be his grandson and saying he needed bail money and legal fees.
RELATED: Check out the new and improved FOX Sports app
Prosecutors said the caller convinced the woman to withdraw $9,500 from her bank account and take it home, after which someone came to her house on Aug. 16 to collect the money. The first call came from a different number, which her son said he looked up online and appeared to be associated with a legitimate lawyer.
A few days later, the same 87-year-old woman received a call demanding an additional $9,975 to cover similar expenses, which she accepted, but from the same person, according to the lawsuit.
According to the criminal complaint, the 87-year-old woman received a third call from the same individual, who called himself “Frank Foster” and demanded an additional $9,986. The third call was recorded on the victim’s answering machine minutes before her son called police. The individual receiving the money used the name “Michael Garcia.”
Prosecutors said that during the investigation, detectives went to the victim’s home, where the woman received multiple phone calls from at least two individuals. Detectives recorded the calls, which came from several different numbers and had caller IDs that read “long distance” or “withheld.”
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts with the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android.
Mendes is in custody
Investigators determined that during the call, someone was being dispatched to the woman’s home to pick up $9,986 in cash. The victim complied and told the suspect the cash was ready to be picked up, according to the complaint. Later, as someone arrived and walked up the driveway, the victim received another call saying someone was there to pick up the cash.
Detectives opened the door and arrested a suspect who identified himself as Mendez. The victim told police this was the same man who had come to collect money on two previous occasions, according to the criminal complaint. Police also arrested the driver who dropped Mendez off, but the driver’s identity remains unknown.
According to the criminal complaint, Mendez told police he worked for a painting company but did not provide contact information for the company or his supervisor. Mendez claimed he had worked there for more than a year and that he and another person had been driving around looking for painting quotes and had happened to be at the victim’s home. He denied any involvement in the fraud scheme.
