Skip to content
Main Menu
Utah Attorney General
Search
Attorney General
Sean D. Reyes
Utah Office of the Attorney General
Secondary Navigation

Attorney General Files Fraud Charges In Connection With Scam Impersonating LDS Church Officials

SALT LAKE CITY Feb. 22, 2016 – The Utah Attorney General’s Mortgage and Fraud Unit has filed charges against Gary Anderson of Springville and Alan McKee of Benjamin. The Affidavit of Probable Cause and Criminal Information lists three counts of Communications Fraud and one count of a Pattern of Unlawful Activity, all Second Degree Felonies.

According to the charging documents, Anderson and McKee are accused of defrauding Ames Construction and two individuals out of approximately $1.2 million between July 2013 and October 2015. McKee is alleged to have sent letters to Ames Construction purporting to come from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“LDS Church”) in connection with the construction of a building site in Elberta, Utah. Anderson is alleged to have assisted by making at least one phone call posing as an LDS Church official to an Ames Construction employee. McKee and Anderson are also alleged to have induced two victims to invest in a scheme to purchase excess farm equipment.

“I’ve made stopping white collar crime one of the highest priorities in the Utah Attorney General’s Office,” said Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes. “Our investigators, paralegals, attorneys and staff work tirelessly to stop scams and shut down fraudsters.

“I appreciate the hard work by Che Arguello, Assistant Attorney General and Division Director of White Collar and Commercial Enforcement, and Brian Williams, Mortgage and Financial Fraud Unit Section Director, and their team for their hard work to build this case.”

The investigation was assisted by Tyson Downey from the Investigations Division and Richard Hales from the Utah County Attorney’s Office Investigation’s Division.

The Affidavit of Probable Cause and Criminal Information are merely charging documents, every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

# # #