Toronto man arrested for allegedly scamming woman into handing $7,500 to bail out grandson

A Toronto man has been arrested for allegedly defrauding an elderly woman out of thousands of dollars by claiming that her grandson needed bail.

Toronto police said they responded to a call for fraud in the area of Grenadier Road and Roncesvalles Avenue on Thursday afternoon.

Police learned that the day before, the victim got a call from two people – a man posing as her grandson and another who identified as a police officer.

The latter told the woman that her grandson needed $7,500 for bail and that a bondsman would come to her home to pick up the money.

Police said the woman was told not to alert anyone because it would compromise her grandson’s release. Later that day, a man attended her address and collected the money.

The next day, the woman was contacted by the person identifying as an officer, demanding an additional bail payment of $7,500 and that the same man would pick it up, police said.

The woman became suspicious and contacted police. When the man came by to obtain the money, police arrested him.

On Saturday, police said the suspect, Diego Armando Lillo, had been charged with two counts of impersonating a peace officer, two counts of fraud over $7,500, one count of assault with intent to resist arrest and failure to comply with a release order.

Police also released a photo of him as they believe there may be more victims, urging them to come forward.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-1100 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or www.222tips.com.