Bobby Dean Crosby, 81, is being held in lieu of $50,000 after being charged with a felony count of participating in an organized scheme to defraud.
An 81-year-old man has been arrested in Florida and charged with scheming to defraud after he allegedly helped launder hundreds of thousands of dollars in online scams, authorities said.
Bobby Dean Crosby, 81, was arrested Thursday by Port Orange Police and is being held at Volusia County Jail in lieu of $50,000 cash bail, according to online records. He has not entered a plea and his arraignment is scheduled for May 9.
Crosby allegedly participated in laundering money and gifts sent by victims who responded to scammers pretending to be family members in need of help, police said. Some victims had been told they had won a huge prize, but needed to first send funds to claim it, police said.
For the past three years, using Bitcoin transfers, Venmo, checks and cash, Crosby allegedly had laundered more than $600,000 sent to him by people he met on Facebook and a dating app, a charging affidavit filed by Port Orange Police alleges.
Police had been contacted by authorities in states including California and Michigan who were investigating fraud scams in their states, and had tracked payments to Crosby's Port Orange address, the affidavit claims.
Port Orange investigators interviewed Crosby several times at his home, and the man allegedly admitted receiving funds through FedEx, apps such as Venmo, and other means, which he then transferred to accounts sent to him by at least two women, who said they were helping process "government funds," police said.
Crosby appears to have been a victim as well. He met one of the women on a dating site and she said she loved him and planned to move in with him, police said.
Some of the Bitcoin transfers made by Crosby were traced to Nigerian fraud scams, authorities said. Investigators said Crosby had transferred more than $634,000 to those accounts between June 16, 2020 and Dec. 17, 2022.
Police collected uncashed checks from Crosby, including one sent by a victim in the amount $15,000, which was later returned to the victim, investigators said.
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