Pair charged in 'sweetheart scam"
By Ben Aguirre Jr.
The Argus
From an outsider standpoint, it could look as if an elderly father were talking to his daughter.
But that's not the case. In fact, the woman is a swindler out to get money from the man, a widower seeking nothing more than friendship.
Think it's a fictional story? Think again. It apparently happened in Fremont nearly a year ago.
Last April, an 80-year-old man met a 35-year-old woman in a local grocery store and over the course of six months she and her real companion, also 35, bilked the man out of $70,000 in what has been termed a "sweetheart scam," police said.
Now, with the suspects under arrest, police said they have released their photos, hoping to hear from anyone else who may have been swindled by the pair.
"If there's one, there's probably others," said Fremont police Detective Adam Carpenter.
Fremont residents Mary Tennis and her common-law husband, Alan Nardo, were arrested earlier this month and each has been charged with two counts of money laundering and a single count of conspiracy to commit elder abuse.
Tennis, a mother of three, also faces five counts of grand theft, and a single count of fraud.
Both have been arraigned, but neither has entered a plea.
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