Easton Police arrest Delaware man following fraud investigation

EASTON, Md. – Easton Police have arrested a Delaware man on nearly 30 charges related to a theft investigation.

On December 16th, detectives reportedly met with a husband and wife from Easton regarding an ongoing fraud investigation, learning that the victims had been scammed out of large sums of money. The suspect was identified as 81-year-old Allen Andres, who allegedly came to the victim’s house frequently to collect money and has taken the victims to the bank to make large wire transfers.

The victims produced an invoice they said Andres personally delivered to them at their address on December 13th, with a header that states “Internal Revenue Service”, addressed to the victims. The invoice total was listed at $12,500, and on the back of the invoice, instructions were given to a pay a written “cheque” of $5,500, along with $2,000 in cash to Andres. It was learned that the victims had given money to Andres on separate occasions and that Andres had identified himself to them as a police officer and an FBI agent. The victims provided detectives with a photo of what appeared to be an authentic FBI badge, a police ID card, and a police badge from a law enforcement agency in California. The victims also reported that Andres carries a firearm.

Detectives confirmed with the FBI that Andres is not an agent. Andres was subsequently arrested and extradited from Delaware, where he was charged with 28 counts of theft, forgery, impersonating a police officer, theft scheme, and various other charges. He was held without bond initially but was later released on a $5,000 unsecured bond.