SLIPPERY ROCK — A Connecticut man accused of being part of an elaborate fraud scheme saw all charges against him held for a higher court after a preliminary hearing Wednesday, June 5.

Sandeep Seelam, 25, was charged last month with felonies theft by deception, criminal attempted theft and conspiracy after police said he posed as a federal agent during a series of events over the course of a few weeks in Muddy Creek Township.

According to later testimony from state trooper Santino Napolitano, police are investigating how many others were involved in the scam, which involved emails, phone calls and people driving to the home of Ken Hutalski.

Hutalski testified on April 18 he received word that a purchase was made using his PayPal account.

“It all started with a PayPal email,” he said. “It was an invoice for a purchase of bitcoin, $900, which I didn’t do.”

The email indicated he could challenge the purchase by calling a certain number. When he did, Hutalski said he was connected with a woman who did not identify herself, then another woman, who said she worked with the “fraud department” at PayPal.

“She came back and asked about other purchases, which were fraudulent,” he said.

Hutalski was then transferred to what he believed was a Federal Trade Commission agent named Albert Hall, who even provided an badge number.

While the first two women he talked to did not have accents, Hutalski said Hall did, and made promises to protect his assets.

“He said, ‘We can protect your money by putting it in a safety locker with the U.S. Treasury Department,’” Hutalski said.

He was then instructed by Hall to place $11,300 into a bitcoin machine. Though Hutalski was instructed to destroy the receipts for those transactions, he kept them.

Hall then advised Hutalski to take out $40,000 from multiple bank locations to “get his money safe.” He said he even withdrew his 401(k) investment and other savings.

Hutalski said Hall instructed him not to tell the bank tellers what he was doing if questioned, just to say that he was withdrawing money for “equipment.”

The communications lasted over the course of several weeks.

“He was in contact with me every day, multiple times a day. He put me to bed at night … He woke me up in the morning to make sure I was OK,” Hutalski said.

On May 8, Hall said a treasury agent was coming to Hutalski’s home to pick up a large amount of money. He was instructed to take photos of the money, place it in boxes, and not converse with the agent who picked it up.

A silver Hyundai Sonata arrived at Hutalski’s house to retrieve the money, but the driver was not Seelam, he noted. He described the driver as a bald Black man.

Napolitano testified that the Hyundai was later discovered to be registered to Seelam.

On May 9, the process repeated itself, and once again, Hutalski said the man in the Hyundai Sonata was not Seelam.

By this point, Hutalski said he had contacted the Federal Trade Commission to verify the badge number for Hall, and was instructed to report his situation to state police.

Napolitano said he had Hutalski arrange for another pick up of $80,000, but it was delayed by Hall, who said his agent had been in a car accident.

Hutalski said during all of this, the false agent was in communication with him, knowing even when he went to the bank.

“He knew every move I was doing because he was driving,” he said.

On May 22, Napolitano said he and other troopers arrived at Hutalski’s and waited for the scammers. This time, a silver Dodge Challenger arrived, and it was driven by Seelam.

Police later learned the vehicle was rented by Seelam out of Connecticut.

Seelam was taken into custody, Napolitano said, and it was later discovered he had been staying at the Comfort Inn in Butler Township during the first two drop-offs. A search of his room turned up $29,000.

Napolitano said police don’t know who the person claiming to be Hall truly is, and they are investigating other individuals involved in the scam.

Defense attorney Lyle Dresbold argued the commonwealth had not met its burden in regard to Seelam’s charges, since he was “a victim himself.”

“There has to be evidence that he knew the desired outcome,” Dresbold said. “There wasn’t evidence that he knew he was picking up currency, just that he was picking up a package.”

District Judge Joseph Nash held all the charges against Seelam for court. Dresbold then asked for a bond reduction for Seelam, saying it seemed “higher than necessary.”

He said his client is a student and a resident of New Jersey, though all other court documentation indicates Seelam is from Connecticut.

Due to the discrepancy, Nash opted to keep Seelam’s bond at $1,500,000.