SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A Scottsdale man is accused of swindling thousands of dollars from Valley golfers in an alleged charity event scheme that police say never existed.
Lindsay Meisner, an Army veteran who lives in Scottsdale, says she fell victim to this at the end of June. About two months later, Scottsdale Police arrested the man she said she paid $10,000.
“I feel so violated," Meisner says. "I'm just so grossed out.”
The man authorities arrested is 57-year-old Robert Alexander. He is charged with fraudulent schemes, according to the police. Meisner says she and a friend were golfing when he approached them. Meisner recalls, “He introduced himself as Rob, so we started golfing.”
Alexander seemed like a regular guy Meisner says adding nothing seemed off about him. "I just didn't see any red flags," Meisner says.
After a few hours on the course, she says he brought up a charity golf course event being hosted by the Wounded Warrior Project and asked Meisner to participate.
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"I'm like, 'Oh, I'm an Army vet!' Like, how cool would that be?” Meisner says. She continued talking with Alexander when he brought up another supposed scheme police say he was running.
He asked Meisner if she would like to purchase coupon books for schools. She said Alexander told her part of the money would be counted as a charity write-off. She then claims she paid $10,000 in cash. When she asked him why, "He said it's just it's better tax-wise," Meisner says.
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That was the last time she heard from him.
Meisner said all of her calls and texts to Alexander weren't going through. “I just triggered I was like, 'What is going on?'”
Now, after learning what law enforcement has claimed she can't believe she trusted him. "I felt sick, to be honest," Meisner says through tears. "I haven't slept since I found out."
She doesn't believe she will ever see that money again but hopes other victims come forward.
“He's gonna just keep destroying so many people's lives," Meisner says.
According to court documents 12 News obtained, investigators claim Alexander ran this same alleged scheme on another person. The document says someone wrote Alexander a check worth $5,000 that would, "buy school coupon books to sell". The person would then receive a tax write off at the end of the year, the document alleges.
When authorities questioned Alexander on this, he told them he was never in possession of school coupon books. Believing Alexander would use money from victims to pay bills and living expenses.
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