A woman allegedly part of a scheme that swindled more than 80 seniors out of money in 2009 likely will face a jury Wednesday.
Santee Roberts is accused of tricking people into believing she was a bill collector for local electric company Georgia Power, and getting them to give her and two cohorts their credit card information.
Santee, 36, was arrested in February 2011 for the scam prosecutors say her team had run since 2009. Police reportedly caught her leaving a Fulton County victim’s home. She has been charged in DeKalb and Fulton counties.
Along with Donald Crane and Charlene Merkerson, Roberts bought a MetroPCS pre-paid phone that they had registered to the name “Georgia Power,” authorities said.
The trio allegedly began calling Georgia Power clients and telling them their bills were overdue and they faced disconnection if they didn’t pay immediately.
The clients would then give their credit card numbers, which the three would immediately use to buy electronics and gift cards, or to make cash advances, prosecutors said.
Some of the victims were told that their credit cards had been compromised by scammers and to leave their credit cards in their mailboxes, authorities said. Those people who followed these instructions found that their cards were indeed retrieved … but later used at restaurants, hotels, ATMs or other retail locations, according to the indictment.
Victims reported the scam to Georgia Power authorities, who investigated and alerted police.
Crane was arrested in August 2010 and released in November 2011, according to DeKalb County Jail records, and Merkerson remains at large, authorities said.
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