Lure of Free Money Hooks 70 Suspects in Sting : Arrests: Cases involve child support, bad checks and welfare fraud. Deadbeats from as far away as North Carolina are duped.

Robert Velasquez had challenging marching orders: persuade deadbeat parents, welfare cheats and other suspected criminals to turn themselves in.

With no other good ideas in mind, the Ventura County district attorney’s investigator decided to mail his targets a letter informing them they had unclaimed money waiting for them.

To his surprise, the plan worked. On Wednesday, Ventura County officials announced that 70 of their most sought-after deadbeats had been taken into custody within the last week--all in search of free money.

Offenders drove from as far as North Carolina and Ohio to pick up checks from the fictitious state Department of Unclaimed Property Earnings Depository--or DUPED.

“As far as I know, nothing like this has occurred in California in quite some time,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeff G. Bennett, chief of the investigators for the prosecutors office. “The message that ought to be sent very clearly is if you owe a child support payment, we are going to find you one way or another.”

“This is the best operation that has ever been conducted in the child-support area,” agreed Deputy Dist. Atty. Stanley C. Trom, head of the child support division. “Every one of these people knew there was an arrest warrant out for them. These are our most difficult cases. When people know they are wanted, they hide.”

Some of those arrested in the sting had been hiding out from authorities for a number of years. Velasquez was given the task several months ago of trying to flush out some of them.

He started by concocting the letter from the fictitious state agency.

The letter began: “This is to inform you that, according to our records, you may be entitled to the unclaimed earnings listed below.” It went on to tell the unsuspecting targets that the state owed them anywhere from $600 to $1,900 in earnings their current or previous employer had improperly withheld.

Of about 1,000 who received the letter, more than 100 called an “800” line set up by the district attorney’s office to inquire about their sudden windfall. Those people also scheduled appointments to pick up their money from a state office in Santa Barbara.

*

Velasquez said officials did not set up the office in Ventura County, lest that raise any suspicions.

When the targets began showing up Oct. 12 to collect their checks, investigators met them with handcuffs. Most of the duped took their arrests in stride, although investigators said several relatives who accompanied suspects to the office site became unruly, and one woman had to be taken into custody.

Most of those arrested came from within the state. But others flew, drove or caught a train from such distant states as North Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Utah, Alabama and Kentucky.

All told, 41 men and women were arrested for overdue child support payments, 16 for writing bad checks and 13 for welfare fraud, Velasquez said. Most were able to make bail after posting $5,000.

To illustrate how far some people had come in search of free money, investigators point to the cases of Bruce Calvin Steele of North Carolina and Phillip Terrier of Ohio.

Both drove thousands of miles to Santa Barbara to collect the money they thought they had coming. Authorities said they were particularly happy to arrest them.

*

Steele, a 51-year-old former Fillmore man, owes the county $6,723 in back support to his three children who are now grown and no longer receiving county aid, officials said.

Terrier, 33, formerly of Thousand Oaks, has a 14-year-old child and is behind $3,489.64 in his $75-a-month support payments, officials said.

But not everyone fell for the trick. When contacted in Arizona and told of his unclaimed earnings, one man said, “Why should I come for $1,600 when I’m making $1,000 a day.”

Authorities said now that they know how to reach that man, they plan to have him arrested.

“I think we go back to the issue of greed and wanting something for nothing,” Velasquez said.