BOSTON — Authorities are searching for four of 13 people accused in a transnational elder fraud ring that reportedly scammed hundreds of seniors out of millions, including in Massachusetts.
Federal prosecutors allege the criminal enterprise involved a “call center” operation in the Dominican Republic that tricked elderly victims in the U.S. into believing that their grandchildren or other close family members were in trouble and needed money.
The call center in Santiago, Dominican Republic, which operated as a “front for massive fraud,” has been shut down after a two-year-long investigation, federal authorities said Tuesday.
In total, investigators identified more than 400 victims at the average age of 84, including at least 50 victims in Massachusetts, and more than $5 million in losses, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said Tuesday.
“We have had enough of this. Preying on our elderly and alleged conduct by these depraved individuals is ruthless and immoral,” Foley said during a press conference on Tuesday.
“We will not stand by and allow this to continue. So the message is for today for others committing these types of crimes: We are looking for you and we will find you,” Foley said, “and we will bring you to justice no matter where in the world you are located.”
Foley urged anyone who believes they have been victimized to contact authorities immediately.
“We are here to help protect you. If you believe you have been a victim of this type of scam, please let us know,” Foley said. “Do not be ashamed. These are sophisticated crimes and often difficult to detect, especially with the new addition of AI.”
Several of the accused scammers have ties to the Dominican Republic, with one living in Dorchester and others living in other states including in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Missouri and California.
Four of the accused scammers remain at large, Foley said. They are:
- Ransel St Arlin Tavarez Jimenez, 26, of Bronx, N.Y.;
- Joel Francisco Mathilda Leon, 26, of Bronx, N.Y.;
- Jose Osvaldo Polanco Batista, a/k/a “Obbi,” 28, of Winter Park, Florida; and
- Jose Arony Fermin Vasquez, a/k/a “Chiky,” 31, of New Jersey.
Others now in custody who are also charged in the case are:
- Luis German Santos Burgos, a/k/a “Mambo Flow,” 32, of the Dominican Republic and Dorchester, Mass.
- Oscar Manuel Castanos Garcia, 33, of the Dominican Republic;
- Joel Jose Cruz Rodriguez, a/k/a “Paflow,” 33, of the Dominican Republic
- Edward Jose Puello Garcia, 44, of the Dominican Republic
- Joan Manuel Mathilda Leon, 27, of the Dominican Republic and the Bronx, N.Y.
- Gerardo Heriberto Nuñez Nuñez, 41, of the Dominican Republic
- Andry Joel Baez Santana, 31, of the Bronx, N.Y.
- Chaman Samael Silverio Balbuena, a/k/a “Chammy,” 31, of Defiance, Missouri;
- Manuel Nicolas Rivera Cueto, 25, of Santa Clara, California
Nuñez Nuñez is charged with money laundering conspiracy. All of the other 12 defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
Castanos Garcia is accused of leading the sophisticated “call center” operation in the Dominican Republic, where he employed others who spoke English and carried out what are commonly known as “grandparent scams,” according to the charging documents. Several managers allegedly supervised, instructed and paid the employees.
The scams would begin with an “Opener” employee, who would call victims and pretend to be a grandson or granddaughter who was in an accident, prosecutors said.
Then, a “Closer” would allegedly follow up with another call, pretending to be their grandchild’s attorney, asking for a sum of money to pay for their grandchild’s fees due to the accident.
The indictment alleges that callers for Castanos Garcia’s call centers would instruct elderly victims to provide cash to “runners” in the United States.
The callers would often instruct victims to give the packages with cash to rideshare drivers who were ordered to the victim’s house by a runner.
The runners would then have the unsuspecting rideshare drivers deliver the packages to the runners at nearby locations, Foley said.
In some cases, the callers would direct the victims to ship packages of cash to specified addresses via mail or commercial carriers.
The call center would often allegedly call victims again and ask for additional funds for their grandchildren, sometimes two or three additional times. Callers would claim that there had been a “mix up” or that a “pregnant women’s baby was lost in the crash,” investigators said.
“This scheme defrauded hundreds of unsuspecting, panic-stricken grandparents across the country and right here in Massachusetts out of millions of dollars,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Ted Docks said Tuesday.
“What the accused did in targeting our seniors was calculated, coldhearted and cruel,” Docks said. “They shamelessly took advantage of their love and devotion to bilk them out of their hard-earned money.”
At times, the accused scammers would allegedly order rideshare drivers to drive the elderly victims to the bank to withdraw additional funds.
Prosecutors allege that once the defendants obtained the money, they laundered the illicit proceeds back to the Dominican Republic.
At the direction of Castanos Garcia and others, the runners would make financial transactions with the victims’ money, including depositing cash into bank accounts and delivering it to co-conspirators in New York and elsewhere, prosecutors allege.
The charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000, or twice the loss to the victim.
The charge of money laundering conspiracy provides for up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $500,000 or twice the amount of laundered funds, whichever is greater.
Members of the public who believe they may be victims of this case or other elder fraud scams are urged to send an email to USAMA.VictimAssistance@usdoj.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).
Suspected fraud can also be reported on the FBI’s IC3 Elder Fraud Complaint Center.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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