SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Attorney General has filed fraud charges against two men who scammed a construction company while impersonating officials from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, officials confirmed Monday.
Alan McKee
Former Utah County Commissioner, Gary Anderson of Springville, and Alan McKee of Benjamin, were charged with three counts of communications fraud and one count of pattern of unlawful activity – all second degree felonies.
According to charging documents, Anderson and McKee are accused of defrauding Ames Construction and two individuals out of about $1.2 million between July 2013 and October 2015.
McKee allegedly sent a letter to Ames Construction purporting to come from the LDS Church in connection with the construction of a building site in Elberta, about 33 miles south of Provo.
Anderson allegedly assisted by making at least one phone call posing as an LDS Church official to an employee at the construction company, documents report.
McKee and Anderson also allegedly induced two victims to invest in a scheme to purchase excess farm equipment.
“I’ve made stopping white collar crime one of the highest priorities in the Utah Attorney General’s Office,” said Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes. “Our investigators, paralegals, attorneys and staff work tirelessly to stop scams and shut down fraudsters. This is one of the many significant fraud cases our office is handling that cumulatively represents tens of millions of dollars in funds lost by Utah victims.”
