A career con man is wanted by police after allegedly scamming a Lake County councilman and U.S. Congressional candidate out of $48,000 while posing as a fake buyer for a commercial milk tanker truck, records show. Steven Wayne Eckel, 57, of Little Rock, Arkansas, was charged Monday in Lake Superior Court with corrupt business influence, a Level 5 felony; fraud, a Level 6 felony; and theft, a Level 6 felony.
Eckel immediately transferred $3,500 to his other account at the same credit union. He then transferred $25,000 first to Community First Savings Bank, then to a crypto.com account. Investigators weren’t able to freeze the $25,000. They identified Eckel via security videos at the Arkansas BMV and a bank. Both numbers he used to contact Niemeyer were burner phones, court records show.