Smyrna Police, after a nine-month investigation, have made several arrests in a national home rental scheme with dozens of victims and an elaborate payment system that extended to Nigeria.
In November 2014, a report was made to the Smyrna Police Department from a resident in Florida about a possible rental theft scam involving a Smyrna resident.
It was reported to officers that the victim found an advertisement on trulia.com for a rental house and responded to the online ads and eventually agreed with someone identifying herself as Verna Nowell to send a check. Trulia recently took passed along a blog post aimed at protecting potential victims.
Detectives questioned Nowell who originally denied any knowledge of the scam and claimed her identity was stole.
In January 2015 Smyrna Police were contacted by another victim who resides in Texas and reported his own home was found online at trulia.com for rent, when in fact it was not. The victim in Texas was able to contact the individual posting the home for rent who requested that $2,300.00 be sent the owner/landlord, another Smyrna resident.
Once the money was received it was agreed that the rental agreement and keys would be mailed to him. The victim in Texas provided the necessary information to detectives which let to the arrest of Dustin C. Brennan, 21, of Fairfield Drive in Smyrna for attempted theft by false pretense.
With the new information detectives were able to link both incidents and began an indepth investigation into the online rental theft scam.
During January 2015 detectives of the Smyrna Police Department received phone calls from police departments as far away as California and Illinois reporting victims in those states whom had sent money to Smyrna, for what they believed to be rental properties.
At this time more than 35 victims have been identified from throughout the country and approximately $150,231.12 has changed hands by all parties during the course of the investigation.
The investigation determined that the center of the rental theft scam revolved around the above-mentioned Verna L. Nowell, 63, of the 300 block of Peach Circle in Smyrna.
Detectives identified several other suspects who were implicated in this large scale rental theft scheme brought into the scam by Nowell, Ronald O. Miles of Smyrna; Chase Madden of Townsend; [grandson of Nowell]; Barbara McBride of Smyrna; Cory Bynaker of Smyrna; Kimberly Draper of Clayton; Shirley Watson of Townsend; and Ronald D. Miles of Smyrna.
Detectives learned that Nowell met subjects online via internet dating sites who lived in Lagos, Nigeria. Nowell eventually agreed to receive money from individuals throughout the country and after taking a portion of the proceeds she would then forward the money out of the United States to Nigeria via Western Union and MoneyGram.
It was determined that the money that Nowell and other parties were receiving was part of an elaborate online rental theft scam. Persons outside of the US were locating and copying either legitimate ads for rental properties or copying information from other online sources and then reposting the information on craigslist and trulia.com as if they were the landlords/owner of said properties while using their American counterpart’s names.
Once a renter contacted the seller they were advised to wire the money to one of the eight individuals identified in the investigation.
The money was then collected by the group up and down the state at various Western Union and MoneyGram locations in order to conceal suspicious activity.
Once the money was cashed they would take a portion of the proceeds for themselves and then send the money out of the country.
Nowell eventually was flagged by Western Union and MoneyGram for suspicious. Police said she then brought in several associates and other family members to assist her with cashing the money orders, while resending the money overseas.
On Friday, Nowell was arrested for racketeering, money laundering, theft $1500 or greater, conspiracy 2nd degree, and falsely reporting an incident to police. Nowell was arraigned and released after posting $28,000 secured bail.
Also on Friday, July 31, officers arrested Ronald D. Miles Jr., 21, of the unit block of West Commerce St. Smyrna for money laundering, theft $1,500 or greater and conspiracy 2nd degree. Miles Jr. was arraigned and taken to James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in default of $14,000 secured bail.
At this time active arrest warrants are pending by the Smyrna Police Department for the following individuals pertaining to this investigation for money laundering, theft $1,500 or greater and conspiracy 2nd degree.
Ronald O. Miles, 48, of Smyrna.
Chase Madden, 18, of Townsend..
Barbara McBride, 52, of Smyrna.
Cory Bynaker, 22, of Smyrna.
Kimberly Draper, 37, of Clayton.
Shirley Watson, 44, of Townsend..
