Alibi: Exotic dancer given credit cards

Dublin police were called to investigate after a bank customer obtained cash advances on credit cards belonging to other people.

She had what she said was a reasonable explanation: Credit cards are sometimes given to her as payment for her services as an exotic dancer, she told police. She views the credit cards more as gift cards, she told police. She denied doing anything wrong.

Using a warrant to search her home, police discovered a Hengxin card embosser and two PVC magnetic-stripe reader/encoders designed to be used with a computer. A couple of laptops and a tablet also were seized, according to an affidavit.

Family accused of duping insurer

Doing the laundry was a family affair for the Stevensons of Mason, Ohio, according to a federal grandjury indictment unsealed in Columbus last week.

Mitch G. Stevenson, 53, Patricia Stevenson, 57, and their daughter Candace, 30, are accused of money laundering in a scheme to cheat an insurance company out of $2.9 million, Dispatch federal-court reporter Earl Rinehart reported.

The 33-count indictment alleges that in 2009, applications for two life-insurance policies for a Stevenson relative falsely stated that the person had never been diagnosed with diabetes or high blood pressure and weighed 176 pounds. An investigation revealed that someone had posed as the relative for a medical examination; the relative actually weighed 387 pounds.

In 2011, Mrs. Stevenson and the daughter were named beneficiaries. The relative died the following year. The insurer paid Mrs. Stevenson $1.5 million and Candace Stevenson $1.4 million.

The family is accused of using complex transactions to conceal the source and ownership of the money. They also bought a Bentley GT Convertible for $247,000, put a $284,000 down payment on a home in Mason, and spent $16,000 at World of Decor and $33,000 at a jeweler.

If they are convicted, the maximum time they could spend doing laundry in prison is 20 years, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Officer finds drugs near suspect’s groin

Good instincts are invaluable in police work.

During a traffic stop, a Columbus officer smelled marijuana and pulled a struggling suspect out of a car, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.

The suspect “reached for his groin area,” and the officer followed suit, Rinehart reported. The officer “felt a hard bag of suspected narcotics in his (suspect’s) groin area, about the size of a golf ball.”

A bag of crack cocaine and one of heroin were pulled from the suspect’s pants.