LV police seek victims of financial elder scam
Las Vegas police are searching for additional victims of two suspects accused of bilking at least 11 elderly people out of tens of thousands of dollars.
Police arrested the suspects this month for what they described as a "neighbor assistance scam."
Rick Shawn, 43, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on April 8. He faces multiple charges, including robbery, elderly exploitation and several counts of obtaining money under false pretenses.
Judy Stevens, 42, was booked April 15. She faces two counts each of robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and kidnapping.
Police said a four-month investigation led to the arrests.
Police said Shawn provided false information to his victims and used at least 24 names, six dates of birth and seven social security numbers.
Stevens also used multiple identities in the scam, police said.
The scam generally involved the suspects getting enough basic information about a victim's neighbor to enable them to pose as friends of that neighbor, police said. After gaining the victim's confidence, the suspects would try to persuade the victim to give them money to help the neighbor resolve a fabricated emergency.
Police said Shawn and Stevens would take their victims to financial institutions or casinos to get the money from them.
The vehicles they used were described as a white 2002 Chevrolet Suburban with Arizona license plates: 379-ZYE and D230S3. Police said they also used a white or pearl-colored 1997 Cadillac DeVille with Arizona license plates: 379-ZYE and ADX-3416.
Anyone with information on the suspects is urged to call Las Vegas police's Fraud Detail at 828-3285, or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.
Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.
