Two Dominican Republic residents who were extradited to the United States appeared in a Newark federal court on charges they participated in a “grandparent scam” that defrauded hundreds of seniors out of millions of dollars, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on July 23.
Rafael Ambiorix Rodriguez Guzman, also known as Max Morgan, 59, and Felix Samuel Reynoso Ventura, also known as Fili and Filly The Kid, 37, are among 11 Dominican Nationals who have been charged in a 19-count indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
A total of 16 individuals were indicted in the fraud scheme. Five defendants were based in the New York area and allegedly acted as couriers who picked up cash from defrauded victims.
After their initial appearance, the court ordered Mr. Rodriguez Guzman and Mr. Reynoso Ventura to be detained pending trial.
The defendants and other co-conspirators were allegedly involved in a scheme where phone calls were made from call centers in the Dominican Republic targeting elderly Americans.
In the phone calls, the defendants impersonated children, grandchildren, and other close relatives and indicated they were in dire need.
“As alleged, these two defendants played a role in a scheme that relied on the love and devotion of elderly victims in order to cheat them out of millions of dollars,” said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey in a press release.
Members of the scam, referred to as “openers,” would be the first to call the elderly. Sometimes, the victims were told their grandchild had been in a car accident and had been arrested in connection with the incident.
“In this ‘grandparents’ scam,’ some of the defendants allegedly impersonated grandchildren in distress, claiming, for example, they had been arrested after a car accident involving a pregnant woman who later miscarried, and they needed immediate cash for bail or a lawyer,” Mr. Sellinger said.
According to the DOJ, the grandparent or “family in need of bail” scams were long-running, and seniors were targeted across the country, including in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.
Once the openers tricked the elderly into believing their loved ones were in trouble, the “closers” in the scam allegedly impersonated attorneys, police officers, or court personnel and convinced the victims to provide cash to help their loved ones.
Mr. Rodriguez Guzman and Mr. Reynoso Ventura were allegedly the closers in the scams. They face multiple charges, including mail and wire fraud conspiracy, wire and mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
If convicted, they each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count, a maximum fine of $250,000 for each count of the mail and wire fraud charges, and a maximum fine of $500,000 for money laundering conspiracy.
“The grandparent scam is a cruel fraud scheme that deliberately preys on elderly and vulnerable persons within society. Perpetrators, often cowardly operating off-shore, cause extreme emotional and financial harm to the innocent people they target in commission of this crime,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Bradley Parker of the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General (SSA-OIG) Boston New York Field Division in a press release.
Mr. Rodriguez Guzman and Mr. Reynoso Ventura could not be reached for comment.
A National Elder Fraud hotline at 877-FTC-HELP is open for anyone age 60 or older who has experienced financial fraud to report it to the DOJ, and it can provide information to callers on their next steps and potentially help recover any losses.
