Photo by James Short.
A New Jersey man is facing charges after he allegedly served as a “middleman” for a lottery scam targeting senior citizens — including a woman in Lower Gwynedd.
Eugene Luke, 63, of Wayne, was arraigned last Wednesday on one felony count of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, along with misdemeanor counts of theft by deception, receiving stolen property and theft by unlawful taking. He’s currently free on $5,000 unsecured bail.
Lower Gwynedd Police launched an investigation in December 2023, after a female resident came forward claiming she was the victim of a lottery scam. The woman told police she had received a call on Dec. 13, 2023 advising she had won a $450,000 lottery sweepstakes, and in order to claim her winnings, she had to send a $950 cashiers check to Luke to cover taxes on her winnings, according to charging documents.
Police said the woman sent the check, and she was later contacted by another person claiming to be a delivery driver for Wells Fargo, who requested an additional $8,500 to deliver the money. The woman then became suspicious, unsuccessfully requested her $950 back, then contacted police, the affidavit states.
Investigators tracked the initial check delivery to Luke’s home in New Jersey, and a search warrant executed on his bank account revealed he had deposited $33,900 via 12 cashier’s checks between October 2023 and January, police said. Three additional victims were identified, with all three sharing near-identical accounts on how they were scammed, according to the criminal complaint.
The report states Luke’s actions were consistent with a middleman involved in a fake lottery scheme, and when contacted by police, Luke said he was “in deep” with the scammers and he wanted to set up his family for life, police said. He added that he has people sending him checks from all over the world, and he had a “whole envelope” full of people who mailed him checks, according to investigators.
When asked about the $950 check from the woman in Lower Gwynedd, Luke said he would check and call back, but he never called back, police said.
Charges were filed against Luke on March 20, and he was subsequently arraigned on April 3. His next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on April 18 at 11:30 a.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge Suzan Leonard.
