On Friday, August 20, 1999, a senior citizen who resides in PSA 405 of the Fourth Police District was defrauded of thousands of dollars in cash and U.S. Savings Bonds by a man impersonating a police officer.

A suspect contacted the victim by phone, identified himself as D.C. police official, and told her that he needed her help to apprehend counterfeiters working at an area bank. The caller then informed her that an officer would arrive at her home shortly. A few minutes later, the victim's doorbell rang. When she answered the door, she found a black man with dark complexion, in his 40s, 5'11" tall, weighing 190 pounds, wearing a black suit. He identified himself as a D.C. police officer and flashed a gold-colored badge and a smile.

The suspect convinced the victim that her cooperation would help the police department snare the counterfeiters working inside of two Maryland branches of a local bank. The victim drove the suspect to the first branch, where she withdrew a credit card cash advance. She returned to her car and handed the money to the suspect. The suspect used his cellular phone, presumably to confer with his partner, then directed the victim to drive to the second branch, where the victim retrieved U.S. Savings Bonds from her safety deposit box. The victim returned to her car and gave the savings bonds to the suspect.

The victim became suspicious when the suspect tried to convince her to withdraw additional funds, and said she wanted to go to a police station. At that time the police impersonator exited the victim's car, entered an auto parked nearby, and left to "continue his investigation."

Residents are advised to notify police immediately if they are contacted by someone who tells them a similar tale.

Anyone who has information regarding this case or similar incidents is asked to call the Metropolitan Police Department's Financial Crimes and Fraud Unit at 202-727-4159 or the D.C. Crime Solvers Unit at 1-800-673-2777.

All calls to Crime Solvers are confidential, and a caller need not give his or her name. If the information provided by a caller to the Crime Solvers Unit leads to an arrest and indictment, the caller will be eligible for a reward of up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS.

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