West Lafayette business owner reports $300k stolen from accounts; now refuses to cooperate
Maisa Khazal, owner of Vienna Espresso Bar and Bakery and two Future Scholars Academy locations in Tippecanoe County, reported approximately $300,000 stolen after an unknown person gained access to her three business bank accounts, according to a report from the West Lafayette Police Department.
On Tuesday, Jan. 2, Khazal went to the West Lafayette police to report the fraud and spoke with Officer Chad Kendricks. According to the police report, at the time Khazal did not provide a dollar amount stolen from each individual account.
The Journal and Courier left messages for Khazal, but was unable to reach her for comment.
Khazal told police she was contacted by Chase Bank on Dec. 21 and was informed a suspicious charge was made to her debit card connected to the business accounts totaling $2,000 at a Walmart in Georgia, the report states. After contacting Chase Bank to confirm the transaction was unauthorized, Khazal said she later learned approximately $300,000 had been removed from her business accounts, according to the police report, despite a previous freeze being placed on all of the accounts.
Once the business accounts were frozen, Khazal said she was then unable to receive any calls or text messages on her cell phone, the report stated. After testing her cell phone by calling it from a different number, receiving no response, Khazal told police she took her phone to an AT&T store to report the issue. The AT&T staff told her a call-forwarding feature had been activated on her phone, making all calls and texts be transferred to a different cell phone number. According to the police report, Khazal said she believes the subject who hacked into her business accounts was same the individual who hacked into her cell phone.
When filing the report, Kendricks said Khazal did not have any documentation from Chase Bank detailing the alleged transactions, the report stated. Khazal told police she would be meeting with Chase Bank soon and would provide Kendricks with all the documentation related to the report filing.
But on Friday, West Lafayette police detective Lt. Jon Eager contacted Kendricks to ask if Khazal had provided police with any bank information, according to the police report. After Kendricks informed Eager he hadn't, Eager contacted JPMorgan Chase Global Investigations to inquire about Khazal's report of fraud. In the report, Eager said the investigator could give very little information without a subpoena, but was able to inform him that they were not seeing a loss from the accounts on their end.
Eager then contacted Khazal to see if she would be willing to share copies of her bank statements with him, according to the report, which would show the fraudulent transactions she reported. Eager said it was immediately noticeable in their phone call that Khazal was agitated, the report stated, as she told Eager she did not trust him, or anyone else at the West Lafayette Police Department, and that she was not willing to give him any further information.
According to the police report, Eager said he was able to gather that Khazal was upset with media coverage on this case. Eager said he explained to her that police are required to provide certain information to the media that of which is public record. Despite his explanation, Eager said Khazal's demeanor towards him did not change, the report said, as Khazal told Eager reporters had threatened her employees.
Eager said Khazal ended the phone call by saying she no longer wanted anything else from the West Lafayette Police Department. According to the police report, Eager then contacted the Tippecanoe County Deputy Prosecutor Tim Kern to ask if the police could continue with a subpoena to JPMorgan Chase given the significant amount reported as fraud. Kern said that would not be possible if Khazal no longer wanted police to investigate the matter.
According to the report, Eager said he then contacted JPMorgan Chase Global Investigations to inform them of the conversation he'd had with Khazal, additionally informing them that West Lafayette police would not be following through with a subpoena, closing the case for further investigation.
Jillian Ellison is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. She can be reached by email at jellison@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ellison_writes.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: West Lafayette business owner reports $300k missing, cell phone hacked
