Robert Francis Alexander, a 57-year-old man from Scottsdale, Arizona, was arrested on Aug. 8 and accused of running a golf charity scam, Scottsdale police have announced. benefiting
Investigators said that Alexander had been collecting money from May through July on behalf of the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit organization for veterans and active duty service members, for a charity golf tournament at the Silverleaf Country Club.
“The golf tournament did not exist, and the Wounded Warrior Project charity had no knowledge of Alexander, nor his activity. It was also reported Alexander was collecting money as an investment in purchasing golf balls to be sold in and around Scottsdale,” the Scottsdale Police Department said Sunday.
Police say Alexander had contacted people numerous ways, including over the phone or as directly as person-to-person at local golf courses and encouraged them to make donations in cash. Police identified at least three people who gave Alexander over $14,400 in total and believe that there are likely more victims, according to Scottsdale PIO Aaron Bolin.
Scottsdale police’s Financial Crimes Unit said that Alexander has been involved in multiple fraud schemes. The Scottsdale Police Department encouraged any person who believes they might be a scam victim to contact their non-emergency number at 480-312-5000.
“When you have someone who claims to be with a charitable organization, maybe they have fraudulent proof that they are but if they start asking you for large amounts of cash, I would just caution people to sort of step back and critically think about that,” Bolin said. “Call the organization directly to find out if that person works for them and or call the police department to see if what you’re experiencing matches any current fraud or fraud scheme trends.”
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