Diasporia News of Monday, 30 January 2006
Source: By Larry Altman for Daily Breeze
... seniors robbed of cash by "Ghanaian"
The man seemed legitimate with his fancy suit, wad of cash and African accent.
Victims in Carson were so enticed by the promise that he could deliver thousands of dollars to them if they helped him, they gave him rides
But when the victims became suspicious, the man in the suit dumped the con that would have bled their bank accounts and committed a simple crime: He held them up, taking the money in their pockets and watches on their wrists.
Michael Dewayne Simpson, 47, of Los Angeles was charged Jan. 17 with two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of kidnapping to commit another crime, Carson sheriff's Sgt. John Hocking said. Investigators say he targeted two senior citizens in Carson, and could be responsible for crimes in other cities. According to deputies, Simpson walked up to a 68-year-old man leaving a Bank of America branch at the Southbay Pavilion mall on July 26. Neatly dressed, he explained he was from Ghana, pulled out a wad of cash, and said he had a large amount of money in his home country that he was not allowed to bring into the United States. He explained that he was looking for someone to whom he could send half his money -- if that someone provided some collateral from his own bank account. The plot is a fairly common scheme, police said. Interested, the victim began talking about the transaction and agreed to drive the man to a McDonald's restaurant across the street.