2 arrested after $1.5M scam of Treasure Island resident's jewelry, precious metals: Police

TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. - Treasure Island police arrested two people after investigators say a sophisticated phone scam led to the theft of approximately $1.5 million in jewelry and precious metals from an older resident.

Treasure Island phone scam

What we know:

Treasure Island Police Chief John Barkley said Friday that the investigation began Feb. 10 after officers responded to the Treasure Island home for a reported burglary, grand theft and scheme to defraud.

Investigators believe the case was part of a larger fraud ring and said more arrests could follow.

"They don't rat each other out much," Chief Barkley said. "There are threats of violence among them. There are different levels of sophistication, and I'm telling you, the people at the top are very protected. I don't want to say it's like a drug running ring, but it's a drug running ring where the kingpin never touches the dope, very similar to that. They don't get it until the very end, until the money has been washed."

According to police, the victim received phone calls from people impersonating employees of Chase Bank and Bank of America.

The suspects convinced the victim that her bank accounts and credit cards had been compromised and persuaded her to make massive wire transfers to accounts controlled by the suspects, TIPD said.

At one point, the alleged scammers tried to initiate a second large wire transfer, but bank employees recognized the transaction as fraudulent and stopped it, according to police.

The suspects then changed tactics, police said. They allegedly told the victim that other employees at her own bank were scamming her, and that those employees could come armed to her home and rob her.

The accused scammers then convinced the victim that she needed to move her valuables to a safe location and offered to help her, Chief Barkley said. They instructed her to open the safe and the garage door then go inside. They then pulled into the garage, emptied the safe and left, Barkley said.

"Are you ready to blow your mind," Chief Barkley said. "They had her open her safe, told her, ‘open the garage door and go inside so you don't have to see me, drove his car into the garage, shut the garage door, emptied the safe, pulled out of the garage and drove away."

Tracing stolen wire funds

Dig deeper:

Neighborhood surveillance footage and Flock license plate reader cameras helped investigators identify the vehicle used in the burglary.

Police identified James Arthur Graves Graham Jr., 24, as the alleged burglar who went to the victim's home.

Graham reported the following day that his vehicle had been stolen. Investigators later recovered the vehicle in the Fort Lauderdale area.

Surveillance video and latent fingerprints also provided evidence in the case, police said.

Treasure Island detectives contacted Tampa police, and Graham was eventually arrested at his Tampa apartment following a search warrant.

Investigators said they found clothing inside the apartment consistent with what Graham was wearing during the alleged burglary.

Treasure Island detectives and investigators with the State Attorney's Office spent months tracing the money and following leads across several states.

Investigators traveled or conducted interviews in Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Georgia, California and Texas as they tracked where the money went.

Some of the money was traced to a bank account in Georgia belonging to Alnesha Bianca Handy, 35, according to police.

Investigators interviewed Handy in Georgia, and the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office arrested her.

Despite the complexity of the investigation, police said they were able to recover more than 83 percent of the $280,000 that the victim wire transferred.

"I've been in law enforcement for over 37 years and the amount of times we've gotten money back from scammers is almost nil. Fortunately, because of the diligent efforts of these investigators, we were able to recover over 83 percent of that wire transfer money and get that back to the victim. That's almost unheard of. Once the money is transferred in these scams, it's often moved very, very quickly through other bank accounts and other means, so it disappears," he said.

Police said this was pretty much the victim’s life savings and she was "extremely grateful." Investigators are still working to recover the rest of the victim’s stolen money and property.

"There is a lot of property still missing, but the fact that we were able to give her a significant amount back was huge for us," Barkley said. "This is a rare event that we were able to get this much money back."

Unrecovered property and suspects

What we don't know:

Police said additional arrests could be made.

Investigators are still working to determine where the rest of the victim’s stolen money and property went.

By the numbers:

Despite the complexity of the investigation, police said they were able to recover more than 83% of the victim's wire transfer losses.

Barkley called the recovery extremely unusual in fraud cases.

"I've been in law enforcement 37 years and the amount of times we've gotten money from scammers is almost nil," Barkley said.

Barkley credited the investigators' work with recovering the money and returning it to the victim.

Once money is transferred in these types of scams, it can be moved rapidly through multiple bank accounts and other methods, making it difficult for investigators to recover, TIPD said.

Police said the victim was able to recover a majority of her life savings and was "extremely grateful."

"There is a lot of property still missing, but the fact that we were able to give her a significant amount back was huge for us," Barkley said. "This is a rare event that we were able to get this much money back."

Scammer tactics and warnings

What they're saying:

Barkley said scammers in the case kept the victim on the phone for more than four and a half hours, using fear and confusion to prevent her from taking a step back and verifying what was happening.

The scammers also changed their approach after a second wire transfer was stopped.

"These scammers are professionals at creating fear and urgency," Barkley said.

Police urge residents who receive suspicious calls involving their finances to slow down and verify the information before sending money or giving anyone access to their property.

"Speed and confusion is what they rely on," Barkley said. "If they say you have to move quickly, you have do something quickly, someone says your bank account has been compromised, someone says you must act immediately, someone tells you to wire money, purchase gift cards, purchase something else, purchase gold or valuables, that is a warning sign," Barkley said.

"Hang up the phone. There is no urgency in this. Take the time to call your bank. Call the 1-800 number on the back of your credit card and verify that this is actually happening. They're not going to call you, cold call your home and tell you that your bank is being compromised," he said.

Chief Barkley also advised people to call police.

"We'd rather spend 15, 20, 25 minutes talking to you and figuring out what's going on and walking away and preventing something than coming back later and trying to get all your life savings back," he said.

Anyone who receives a concerning call should verify the information independently and contact local law enforcement if they believe they are being targeted, he said.

"It can happen to anybody," Barkley said. "It all started from a phone call."

In this case, the victim called a friend, then the friend and the victim called police, police said

Pinellas CountyCrime and Public Safety