GILROY
– An 81-year-old Gilroy man changed his tale of being kidnapped
and robbed in a follow-up interview with city police. Actually,
Alfonso Cordova said Wednesday, he was a victim of a lottery
scam.
GILROY – An 81-year-old Gilroy man changed his tale of being kidnapped and robbed in a follow-up interview with city police. Actually, Alfonso Cordova said Wednesday, he was a victim of a lottery scam.
Contrary to what Cordova told police on Sept. 16, no one forced him at gunpoint to withdraw and hand over thousands of dollars from his savings that day, he told Gilroy Detective Daniel Zen on Wednesday. Rather, Cordova did so in hopes of claiming a share of a winning lottery ticket.
According to Zen, Cordova said Wednesday that his deceiver falsely claimed to have a winning lottery ticket that he couldn’t cash because he needed a certain amount of money in his bank account first. If Cordova would loan the man enough to cash the ticket, the man promised to repay him and share his winnings. Cordova was reportedly driven around Santa Clara County to withdraw money from various banks. That night, realizing he’d been fooled, Cordova called police.
Zen said he doesn’t know exactly why Cordova gave a false report at first.
“I would guess he was embarrassed,” Zen said. “I asked him why he said that, and he just shrugged.”
Police have no suspects in the alleged crime. At the time, Cordova described both of them as being about 35 years old and Hispanic with brown eyes and hair. One is about 6 feet tall with medium build; the other is about 5 feet 6 inches tall with a heavy-to-medium build.
