Police Arrest Suspect in Investment Scam

A man suspected of bilking numerous west county senior citizens of a combined $115,000 in a business investment scam has been arrested by Oxnard police.

Oxnard police said Wednesday that Raymund Michael Crawford, 39, of Thousand Oaks, was selling vacuum cleaners door to door in Oxnard, Camarillo and Ventura.

Police allege he would sell appliances to seniors, then return later and persuade buyers to invest in fabricated business ventures that promised a high interest rate.

Police investigators said in a news release that Crawford failed to return any cash to most of his alleged victims and made only minimal payments to others. Some of those checks bounced, police said.

Crawford was booked into Ventura County Jail on Tuesday on suspicion of grand theft, burglary and writing checks on insufficient funds. He is being held in lieu of $120,000 bail, a jail spokeswoman said.

Deborah F. Sutherland, a member of the Ventura County Interagency Elder Abuse Council, said seniors, especially those who live alone and react easily to attention, are particularly vulnerable to door-to-door scams.

Scam artists “not only take away their money, they take away some innocence from them, some human dignity by ripping them off,” said Sutherland, who is a private attorney and volunteer at Grey Law, a county organization that offers free legal aid to seniors.

An investigation into Crawford continues. Anyone with any information is asked to call Oxnard Police Det. Ken Kent at 385-7660.