Huntington Beach police arrest man suspected of defrauding 20 charities
A 38-year-old man was arrested this week on suspicion of defrauding 20 charities, including one in Huntington Beach.
Huntington Beach police detectives launched an investigation in March of a man who had placed multiple winning bids in an online auction hosted by a Huntington Beach charity, police said. After providing the man with the items from the auction, the charity realized he had used fraudulent or closed accounts to pay for them, police said.
The man also attended several large charitable events after promising to be a sponsor and then didn’t pay for the promised sponsorship or paid using a fraudulent credit card, police said.
Detectives suspect the man used similar tactics to defraud 20 charities throughout the United States out of $47,000.
On Wednesday, Huntington Beach police arrested John West in Cypress on suspicion of fraud. West, who is listed in jail records as a cosmetologist, was released from Orange County Jail on Thursday. Details of his release were unavailable.
Detectives are looking for more possible victims in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Mike Thomas at (714) 960-8834.
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
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