Mentor Police Detective Ric Smith was recently presented the Departmental Excellence Award by Mentor Police Chief Ken Gunsch for the successful investigation of a multi-state financial scam.
In August 2022, a Mentor resident had contacted the Mentor Police Department after being scammed out of $68,000. Through the course of his investigation, Detective Smith discovered that a person from Maine had also fallen victim to the same scammer in the amount of $92,000.
Smith worked closely with the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office, the victim’s bank, and the United States Secret Service, throughout his investigation and was able to locate a suspect operating out of Atlanta, Georgia. The suspect admitted participating in the crime while being questioned by Secret Service agents and implicated another individual at that time.
Smith’s hard work resulted in the return of $140,628.00 to the victims.
Federal authorities have taken over the case as the suspects face federal charges.