Scam Case Proceeds In Court

Scam suspect Abraham Espinoza of Miami, Florida, was bound over from Kimball County Court to District Court on Friday morning after a preliminary hearing.

Judge Randin Roland said that "based on the totality," a crime was committed. Espinoza faces three charges and will be arraigned in District Court on Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. The charges include theft-deception more than $5,000, conspiracy to commit a Class 2 felony, and abuse of a vulnerable adult.

When Espinoza couldn't get Zoom to work for the preliminary hearing, he appeared by telephone with an interpreter in the courtroom, who relayed the court proceedings in Spanish to Espinoza.

Kimball County Attorney David Wilson called only one witness to testify to the fraudulent activity. The witness, Matt Dodge from the Scotts Bluff County Sheriff's Department, and an investigator from the Western Nebraska Intelligence & Narcotics Group (WING) reviewed the facts.

The victim's computer appeared hacked, and a phone number appeared for the victim to call. According to Dodge, the victim talked to a lady, who called herself Sharon Ellis. "Ellis" told the 76-year-old victim that his computer was hacked by Russia and China and his money "needed to be cleaned" and then it would be redeposited. The victim withdrew $20,000 in cash from the bank.

Ellis gave instructions on packaging the money; the victim photographed the money and sent the picture to Ellis. She instructed the victim that a man would come to the victim's house to pick up the money, and he – "the runner" – would respond to a codeword. A man in a blue shirt showed up to pick up the package.

After the first withdrawal, the bank contacted the police, and WING became involved on the second occasion. WING contacted the victim to have him participate in planning a sting. The victim was monitored through audio surveillance. The second withdrawal was supposed to be $10,000, but it was only $3,000 and packaged to like $10,000..

The victim was in phone contact with "Sharon Ellis," and she said that a man wearing a blue shirt, known as Mr. Garcia, and driving a white Dodge Ram would again come to the victim's residence. The victim was to stay in the house for 3-4 minutes, then go outside and use the codeword, "Rusty."

A man arrived, and "Mr. Garcia" took the package and left. He was arrested just blocks from the victim's house and booked into the Kimball County Jail.

A search warrant for the phone of Abraham Espinoza ("Mr. Garcia") showed multiple large amounts of bank deposits and indicated other potential victims in the United States. The search warrant also produced bank deposit receipts, an airline ticket, and the package from the victim.

Espinoza's attorney, Audrey Long, cross-examined the WING investigator with questions about the language barrier.

The reported dates of the incidents were on or about June 13 and 20.