“Grandson scam” leaves South Florida man without $18,500; suspect exonerated
Click here for updates on this story
MIAMI, Florida (WFOR) — A South Florida man in his 80s is demanding accountability after losing more than $18,000 to a scam.
His frustration comes after the State Attorney’s Office cleared the suspect arrested in the case seven months ago.
“Something has to be done about it,” the man said.
To protect his identity, he spoke on camera, only showing his shadow and hands. He recalled receiving an alarming phone call last July claiming his grandson was in jail.
“And that’s all I could think about my grandson being in jail, so it was easy to get me to say anything, do anything,” he said.
Believing his grandson was in trouble, he quickly gathered $18,500 and handed it over to a rideshare driver outside his home in a small box.
“Then I called this number back that I knew,” he said. “It doesn’t exist. When that happened, I called my grandson. He just got out of the shower. Then I realized how stupid I was, but it was done. Scammed—but I was relieved.”
Charges dropped against suspect
After reporting the scam to Miami-Dade Police, detectives arrested Hialeah resident Agustin Garcia-Marsan on multiple felony counts on July 22.
But on Friday, the State Attorney’s Office announced it would not pursue charges against him.
“I’m not the person I was made out to be,” Garcia-Marsan said in Spanish.
His attorney, Jay White, said they aggressively worked to prove his client was not involved.
“The GPS tracking device records show he was not where police say he was,” White explained. “The credit cards mentioned in the police report were not his. All the call logs show it was not him.”
Garcia-Marsan said he was at home on the day of the alleged scam and that clearing his name has made it difficult to find a good-paying job.
Victim seeks next steps
As for the man who lost $18,500, he now hopes to speak with investigators about what comes next in his case.
CBS News Miami reached out to the State Attorney’s Office for comment, but have yet to receive a response.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
