The woman is charged with swindling people out of more than a half-million dollars over a four-year period.

48-year-old Ranae Van Roekel, of Boyden in northwest Iowa, is facing federal charges of mail and tax fraud for allegedly selling tickets that didn't exist to the Super Bowl and other high demand events.

A federal document filed yesterday charges Van Roekel with fraud from 2008 to 2012. The total amount she's alleged to have taken from others is $531,000. The charges claim she said she had hotel rooms, access to tickets, and VIP passes and that she offered them at deep discounts because she had personal connections. She once even stated she was on the planning committee for the 2012 Super Bowl.

Once she received money, she allegedly told her customers she was unable to fill most orders. Worse yet, she apparently targeted people she knew through youth football.

Former Waterloo attorney Corey Lorenzen, who represented more than 10 people Van Roekel allegedly defrauded, told Sanluisobispo.com "She definitely was taking advantage of relationships that she had with people, using that to her advantage to be able to sell them. She had put together a pretty elaborate story."

No court date has been set.

 

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