A Layton man previously convicted of fraud allegedly fell into old habits last spring, conning an 87-year-old LDS missionary out of $111,000 after they met in a 12-step program.
Over the course of five months, Keith Evan McKnight got the victim to write 190 checks, court documents state.
McKnight, 54, was charged Thursday in 2nd District Court with second-degree-felony communications fraud.
McKnight met the victim at a 12-step program for which the victim was assisting in counseling sessions as part of a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to a probable cause statement. After a session in March, McKnight approached the victim and asked him for money. The counselor obliged.
A short time later, McKnight approached the counselor and asked if he could share the counselor’s phone number with his employers. The counselor agreed and soon received text messages from two phone numbers, both claiming to be McKnight’s employers.
The employers said they had received wage garnishment paperwork for McKnight, who had outstanding debt due to a payday loan.
The “employers” asked if the counselor would be willing to help McKnight pay off his loans. The counselor allegedly started writing checks, which McKnight would pick up himself, on March 9, and continued to do so until Aug. 26.
The checks were usually for several hundred dollars.
Prosecutors say the victim kept meticulous records of the checks, which include dates, amounts and what the checks were for. He and his daughter approached the attorney general’s office in September to report McKnight’s alleged fraud.
Prosecutors found the victim’s records matched up with deposits McKnight made in his personal checking account. They also found that McKnight was on probation for a communication fraud conviction.
Investigators tracked down McKnight’s actual employers, which had the same names as the “employers” texting the victim; they said they had never communicated with the victim or dealt with wage garnishment connected to McKnight.
In an interview with investigators, McKnight admitted to defrauding the elderly man, according to court records.
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