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Four charged with conning elderly victims in lottery ticket scam
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Police photos: Janet Cruz John Garcia Carmen Perez-Santiago William Velasquez -Ortiz I really, really despise people who prey on the vulnerable and don't think twice about stealing the money someone else has worked all his or her life to save. Not that it's okay to rob a bank or a store, but at least those places can absorb the loss better than an elderly individual.
The four suspects pictured above are accused of conning elderly Hispanics out of tens of thousands of dollars through a lottery scam. It's an old con, but people still fall for it.
Police say the above group worked as a team across Chicago. Two of the offenders would approach a victim and claim they had a winning million dollar lottery ticket but couldn't cash it because they are illegal aliens. They offered to share the winnings with the victim if that person would cash the ticket for them. But before cashing in the ticket, the victim had to hand over large sums of money to the real "winner" in a show of good faith. The victims would go home or to a bank to get money and/or valuables. As soon as the goods were handed over, the suspects would take off in a waiting car.
Police say five victims had a combined loss of approximately $110,000. The four people charged also allegedly attempted to defraud two other people of $50,000.
Those charged are:
- Janet Cruz, 39, of the 3200 block of West Lawrence - 3 counts theft by deception
- John Garcia, 30, of the 4700 block of South Karlov - 3 counts theft by deception, 1 count attempted theft
- Carmen Perez-Santiago, 62, of the 3200 block of West Lawrence - 1 count of theft by deception
- William Velasquez-Ortiz, 43 of the 2000 block of North Milwaukee, 1 count of theft by deception, 2 counts attempted theft
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