N.J. man, woman charged in phone scam

A North Jersey man and woman were arrested in Burlington County and charged with targeting a 93-year-old Arkansas woman for $3,500 in a phone scam, police said Tuesday.

Edgar Trejo-Tavares, 21, and Kevelin Garcia, 21, both of Paterson, were arrested Monday when they allegedly went to claim a shipping envelope they believed contained money from the target of the scam but was actually a setup arranged by Bordentown Township police and the U.S. Postal Service.

Law enforcement were alerted last week by the Arkansas woman that she received a scam phone call from a man claiming to be an attorney representing her grandson in a drunk-driving case involving a pregnant female victim at risk of losing her baby. The Arkansas woman was told to mail $3,500 in bail money to a Bordentown apartment complex.

Bordentown Police Chief Brian Pesce said his department arrested the pair at the apartment complex and found in their car an additional $10,130 in cash believed to be proceeds from similar scams. Trejo-Tavarez had a phony New Jersey driver’s license at the time of his arrest, Pesce said.

Trejo-Tavarez was charged with conspiracy to commit theft by deception and possessing a false government document and was being held in the Burlington County Jail pending a detention hearing, Pesce said. Garcia was charged with conspiracy to commit theft by deception and was released pending a future court date.