The Columbia Police Department’s (CPD) Property Crimes investigators attended the sentencing hearing today for a 43-year-old man accused of swindling four victims out of thousands of dollars.
Bradley Donald Smith (DOB: 1-1975) was sentenced to four years in prison and upon his release, must pay the victims $60,000 in restitution.
Bradley was extradited to Columbia from Las Vegas Nevada in September and was charged with Two Counts of Obtaining Signature/Property Under False Pretenses from incidents that occurred over the summer. The United States Marshals Service’s (USMS) Task Force Operation Intercept aided in the extradition and arrest.
Bradley is accused of telling victims that they could purchase cars for a lower-than-retail-price.
Smith allegedly convinced victims to deposit money into his bank account in exchange for the vehicles. In the end, Smith failed to deliver the vehicles as promised and instead kept the cash.
Police Chief Skip Holbrook would like to offer these following tips to prevent scams:
- Don’t pay upfront for a promise / guarantee
- Consider payment with fraud protection
- Don’t deposit a check to a stranger’s bank account
- Be skeptical of ‘too good to be true’ offers
- Report suspected scammers to police immediately