Man accused of acting as bail bond agent, swindling $2K from victims

Aug. 7--A Bismarck man is accused of acting as a bail bond agent and stealing more than $2,000 from several people.

Akeem Rheim Foster, who court documents say was born in 1996, has been charged with felony theft and one misdemeanor count of acting as a bail bond agent without a license.

Joe Dale Pittman, an investigator with the North Dakota Insurance Department's Fraud Unit, wrote in an affidavit that a woman contacted the department on June 21 saying she had paid a bail bond agent money to bond her boyfriend out of jail, but the agent did not follow through.

The person claimed to have worked for Bismarck Bail Bonds, but the registered owner, Joseph Uzdavinis, told Pittman someone had been advertising on Google using his business's name and was scamming people out of money, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit lists four victims scammed out of a total of $2,250.

North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation Agent Alex Droske set up a meeting with the supposed agent on July 10 to exchange bond money. Instead of following through with the undercover transaction, Droske drove to where the meeting was to take place and took a picture of the suspect, whom all four victims later positively identified as Foster in a photo lineup.

Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Foster on Tuesday. Court documents do not list an attorney for him.

(Reach Blair Emerson at 701-250-8251 or Blair.Emerson@bismarcktribune.com)

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