Santa Ana Man, Son Accused of Fraud

A Santa Ana man and his son were indicted Friday in Los Angeles on 10 counts of wire fraud stemming from a telemarketing scheme that allegedly took in $40,000 in two months from elderly victims who were falsely promised that they had won cash prizes. John Wesley Scrivener, 44, and his son, Jade Steven Scrivener, 19, are accused in the federal grand jury indictment of operating a “prize” scam in which they told victims that they had to send $1,500 to $12,000 to cover taxes before collecting their prizes. Arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday in U.S. District Court. Both men had been arrested within the last two weeks. The arrests are part of continuing investigations by the County of Orange Boiler Room Apprehension task force, which targets schemes that defraud the elderly. The task force, which consists of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, has closed more than a dozen operations since it was formed last year.