Money laundering scheme in Brookfield: $20,000 stolen, man charged

BROOKFIELD, Wis. – A Milwaukee man is suspected of taking nearly $20,000 from an elderly Brookfield woman in a bail/attorney fee scam earlier this month.

Maximiliano Mendez, 27, is charged with two counts of money laundering and one count of attempted money laundering. He is being held in the Waukesha County Jail on $100,000 bail, according to court records.

According to a criminal complaint, the son of an 87-year-old woman called police to report that she had been the victim of a phone scam. The son told investigators that someone had called his mother claiming to be her grandson who needed bail money and money for a lawyer.

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Prosecutors said the caller convinced the woman to withdraw $9,500 from her bank account and go home with it. Then on Aug. 16, a person came to her home and picked up the money. The original calls came from various numbers the son looked up online that appeared to be associated with reputable lawyers.

A few days later, the complaint states, the same 87-year-old woman received another call demanding another $9,975 to cover similar expenses. She received the money, which she says was picked up by the same person.

The complaint states that the 87-year-old woman received a third call from the same person, who identified himself as “Frank Foster” and demanded another $9,986. The third call was recorded on the victim's answering machine, minutes before the son called police. The person who accepted 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 calls from at least two different people. A detective recorded those calls, which came from several different numbers and were shown on the caller ID as “out of area” or “private.”

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Mendez in custody

During the calls, investigators determined that someone would be sent to the woman's home to pick up $9,986 in cash. According to the complaint, the victim played along and told the suspect that the money was ready for pickup. Then, when someone arrived and walked up the driveway, the victim received another call that someone was there to pick up the money.

A detective opened the door and arrested the suspect, identified as Mendez. The complaint states that the victim told police it was the same person who had come twice before to pick up money. Police also arrested the driver who dropped Mendez off, but his identity remains unclear.

Mendez told police he worked for a painting company, the complaint says, but could not provide contact information for the company or his boss. He said he had worked there for over a year and claimed he and the other person had been driving around getting quotes for painting jobs — and it was a coincidence that they were at the victim's home. He denied any involvement in a fraud scheme.