ALLEGAN (WKZO AM/FM) It didn’t take long for a release to the media to help the Allegan County Sheriff’s Department track down a suspected scam artist who targeted logging firms.
Detectives say the man identified himself as “Steve Sandalford” of Vicksburg, claimed he owned a piece of property he wanted to flip in Allegan County and produced documents convincing the logger that he owned the property.
He suggested he had preferential treatment on loans and land purchases because he was a veteran. The logging firm paid him several thousand dollars and began harvesting valuable trees from the property.
They were forced to stop when the real estate broker who represented the real property owner spotted the crew and confronted them back in late March. That’s when they realized they had been scammed.
The big break in the case came when detectives released surveillance video Thursday morning of the transaction which took place at a local gas station on March 28th. Within hours, Allegan County detectives had tips that led to arrests.
One male and one female have been taken into custody and some of the money paid has been recovered, according to Allegan County Sheriff James Baker.
They now suspect their scam artist in a similar crime near Three Rivers in early March and are checking to see if he may have done it before elsewhere in S.W. Michigan.
The actual names are being withheld until formal charges are filed.
