Woman bilked out of $6,500

By Meg Heaton

A 66-year-old Hudson woman was the victim of two con artists Friday afternoon. When it was all over she had lost $6,500.

The woman was approached in the Kmart parking lot around 2:30 p.m. A woman in her late 30s approached the victim and asked if she had dropped an envelope. The victim said she hadn't. The woman then said she had found an envelope near the victim's car and it contained $40,000 in cash along with some pornographic pictures. The victim never saw the money or the pictures.

The suspect left the victim briefly saying she needed to talk to her co-worker who was in a nearby store. A second suspect said she was making photocopies of the money in the store. When the suspects returned to the victim, the victim suggested that they call the police. The suspects said no.

They told the victim that the police would just confiscate the money. They told the victim they would be willing to give her $10,000 of the money if she agreed to keep silent about the envelope and its contents.

They told the victim that before she could get the $10,000, she would need to make a withdrawal of $10,000 from her own bank account and give the money to the suspects. They would photocopy the bills in order to have a record of the serial numbers and then return the victim's cash along with her $10,000 share of the found money.

The victim agreed. She drove to Norwest Bank in Hudson accompanied by one of the suspects. The victim then made cash withdrawal of $6,000, telling the teller that she was taking a trip to Alaska. According to the report, the suspect entered the bank with the victim, but did not go to the teller's window with her.

The victim put the money in her purse. She then drove the suspect to her home where she picked up another $500 in cash and then returned to the Kmart parking lot where they met up with the second suspect again. The victim handed over the $6,500 to the suspects who said they would go into the store and make the necessary photocopies.

That was the last time the victim saw either suspect. She waited almost an hour before entering the store looking for the suspects. They were nowhere to be found. The victim contacted the Hudson Police Department around 4:30 p.m.

The suspects are described as Caucasian females, in their 30s, one 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighing approximately 200 pounds, and one 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing approximately 150 pounds.