Man, 25, accused of impersonating Broward sheriff's deputies, stealing $50K from several victims
FORT LAUDERDALE -- A man was in custody in Pennsylvania on charges that he allegedly impersonated deputies from the Broward County Sheriff's Office over the phone and managed to steal tens of thousands of dollars from multiple victims.
Raquan Hardy, 25, was being held at the county jail in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, after he was arrested there for a similar scheme, the sheriff's office said in a written statement.
Investigators said Hardy faces a total of 21 counts in Broward County that are related to the phone scam.
According to the statement, the charges include organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, impersonating a law enforcement officer, extortion and criminal use of personal identification information. The total bond for the Broward County charges is $900,000, authorities said.
Officials launched an investigation after learning about the phone scam in early September, the statement said.
Using a spoofed phone number from the Broward courthouse, Hardy called victims and told his victims he was a sheriff's deputy.
The man told his victims that there were active warrants for their arrest and they needed to pay a surety bond in cash through a bail bond company to prevent their arrest on outstanding charges, according to investigators.
The arrest warrants did not exist but the man managed to convince at least four people that he was legit and they gave him over $50,000 between Sept. 7 and Sept. 10, investigators said.
The sheriff's office said detectives received more than 20 reports from multiple individuals, mostly female medical professionals, who were contacted by the scammer in early September.
Investigators tracked the suspect to Dallas, where he was arrested during a traffic stop and extradited to Pennsylvania to face charges there for a similar scheme.
The sheriff's warned that they would never call people asking for money or personal information and that anyone who receives such a call should immediately report it to law enforcement.
