ST. GEORGE – A man accused of scamming an 88-year-old St. George widow out of $100,000 has been charged with felony counts of theft and fraud.
Richard A. Loveday, of Alpine, Utah, was booked into the Utah County Jail this week for allegedly scamming the victim from April to September of last year. He has been charged with securities fraud, theft, and communications fraud, all second degree felonies. Loveday was transferred to Washington County’s Purgatory Correctional Facility Thursday and is being held on $100,000 cash-only bail, according to a statement from the Utah Department of Commerce.
Charges against Loveday were filed by the Utah Attorney General’s Office in the Fifth District Court.
According to the statement, a securities compliance investigator with the Utah Department of Commerce, Division of Securities looking into Loveday’s activities reported information to the Attorney General’s Office which ultimately filed the charging paperwork with the court.
“The filings explain that Loveday allegedly met the victim at a health exposition in St. George and subsequently arrived unannounced at her home where he purportedly talked her into giving him $70,000 as an investment,” the statement reads. “He promised a 14 percent return, monthly income of $875, and a $15,000 bonus payment. Loveday then allegedly spent the money on himself and his family and later returned for an additional $30,000 by blaming her for authorities freezing his account after an acquaintance of hers contacted the Utah Division of Securities.”
Concerning the case, Francine A. Giani, Executive Director, Utah Department of Commerce, said, “We applaud the AG’s office for their swift action against this swindler who preyed upon an 88-year-old widow’s trust and stole $100K for his own selfish financial gain.”
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said his office appreciates the strong relationship between it and the Utah Department of Commerce and its Division of Securities.
“We continuously find the agency to be professional, thorough and effective,” Reyes said. “The fine investigative work done on Mr. Loveday created a compelling case for Jake Taylor and our office to file. We hope this will keep him away from additional possible victims.”
Authorities believe Richard Loveday may have fraudulently represented investments to other Utah residents, including senior citizens. Those that think they or their family members may be victims are encouraged to contact the Utah Division of Securities at 801-530-6936.
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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.
Another fine example of Mormon greed
+1
Mormon greed? I must’ve missed where they stated his religion…
As for Mormons being greedy…do you know many people that willingly give up 10 percent of their income consistently to any type of charity?
Can’t we all just get along instead of criticizing those with different views? After living in 3 other states I’m shocked by how mean people are here to each other. I know some Mormons can be judgmental and rude but obviously considering your comment, that goes both ways.
Find something positive to do besides bringing other people down. Also don’t judge an entire religion because of a few imperfect people you know. That’s a narrow minded way of thinking that ends up causing more hatred.
LOL. Willingly??? If they don’t pay the toll they don’t get into the most posh layer of heaven. It’s hardly willingly…
Huh. Religion wasn’t even mentioned in the article, and yet the greedy person had to be Mormon. Why not label him a Democrat or Republican? Why not ‘a good ‘ole boy or a transplant? The only exercise some people get is ‘jumping to conclusions’.
I hope all people who had business dealings with this man come forward. And it would be a nice change of pace to read someday that this lady got her money back.
hmmmm….don’t see anything there that mentions the mans religion?? Not Mormon myself but………just saying. Selfish, fiendish people come in all shapes, sizes,nationalities, and religions. Throw away the key on this guys cell door!! they should probably throw his wife in there with him….how could she not be involved in his schemes!
It’s pretty likely he was a perfect upstanding member of the LDS church. Mormons are always conning people and hatching up new pyramid scams, esp in utah.
Yeah. He’s probably a Republican too!
It’s interesting how if a mormon does something that is considered good, then of course the news mentions his/her religion. I guess this is to give the mormon religion some sort of credit for his/her good dead. Now if a mormon does something bad, rarely is the mormon religion connection mentioned. I guess this is to prevent placing a bad aura on the religion. Fianally, if a person of a religion other than mormon does something newsworthy, that religion is hardly ever mentioned. My bet, though, is this guy scammed the old lady using his religion to gain her confidence.
Crimes against the elderly are so common I’m surprised that this man was arrested. I was present when another couple brought their own attorney and attempted to gain access to an elderly woman’s money – the police determined that this was a civil matter. Luckily, the woman’s family was able to move her and protect both her and her substantial estate from this couple. The problem isn’t Mormon, the problem is that these issues are often difficult to prove. I seen hairdressers who visit the elderly attempt to steal checks, people who play music at facilities attempt to gain access to patient’s bank accounts, family and friends who steal from the elderly. The burden of proof is for the person who was exploited, not the responsibility of the person who ripped them off. The elderly are easily manipulated and are often embarrassed to tell their family members they’ve been exploited. Again – this is not a Mormon issue, it’s a human issue.
– By the way, I’m not LDS.
Well everyone, yes this guy is a Mormon ( I know people who know people) but his badness has nothing to do with the church. He is just a bad dude through and through. How can you first steal $70,000, then get angry with her and ask for more, then drive her to the bank for yet more, and have a conscience? I also want to point out that anyone who has met his wife knows she is a very sweet and kind person. She has been manipulated, lied to and threatened throughout her marriage. So please do not judge her. It will all come out in the end. This is not the first time he has been in trouble either, and I am sure that there will be more complaints coming out of the woodwork as the case proceeds.
Was he in the bishopric?
Probably was THE bishop.
Ah, again Bub, inciting discord among the residents of southern Utah. I hate to break it to you, but you live in a state that is predominantly Mormon. The chance of this man being Mormon is good because we are in Utah, but it is no different than assuming that a person charge of a crime in Rome would be a Catholic. All your arguments shows that you are indeed the bigot that you profess to fight against.