NEW YORK — Two residents of Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, were extradited to the United States last week and made their initial appearance in Newark federal court yesterday on charges relating to their participation in a sprawling “grandparent scam” that defrauded elderly Americans out of millions of dollars.
The defendants’ alleged scheme was uncovered pursuant to a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York investigation in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General (SSA-OIG) in Boston and New York, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the FBI.
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 charged in a 19-count indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey that was unsealed April 29. Following their initial appearance yesterday, the court ordered both men detained pending trial.
“These defendants and their co-conspirators are accused of heartlessly robbing countless elderly victims of their precious time and often their life savings — all from more than 1,500 miles away,” said HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Ivan J. Arvelo. “Rafael Ambiorix Rodriguez Guzman and Felix Samuel Reynoso Ventura were among the 16 individuals charged in this appalling scheme, which spanned at least four U.S. states and allegedly threatened hundreds of innocent Americans’ livelihoods. The merciless greed of perpetrators is boundless, but is no match for HSI New York’s El Dorado Task Force, its Cyber Intrusion Group and the greater law enforcement community. I am proud to stand alongside our global partners in our relentless commitment to the safety and overall wellbeing of the vulnerable public."
HSI New York’s El Dorado Task Force, SSA-OIG, NYPD and the FBI are investigating the case.
According to the investigation, Rodriguez Guzman, Reynoso Ventura and their co-conspirators engaged in a long-running “grandparent” or “family in need of bail” scam against hundreds of seniors across the United States, including in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Rodriguez Guzman and Reynoso Ventura are alleged to have worked in the call centers in the Dominican Republic from which the scam operated, where they phoned elderly Americans and sought to steal their money.
Members of the conspiracy referred to as “openers” called elderly victims in the United States and impersonated the victims’ children, grandchildren or other close relatives. The call centers used technology to make it appear that the calls were coming from inside the United States. Typically, the victim was told that their grandchild had been in a car accident, was arrested in connection with the accident and needed help.
After openers tricked victims into believing their loved ones were in dire trouble, others working at the call centers, known as “closers” — including Rodriguez Guzman and Reynoso Ventura — allegedly impersonated defense attorneys, police officers or court personnel and convinced victims to provide thousands of dollars in cash to help their loved ones. The cash was typically retrieved by couriers sent to the victims’ homes or mailed by victims at the direction of the closers.
Rodriguez Guzman and Reynoso Ventura each face multiple charges, including mail and wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, 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.
Arvelo thanked HSI’s Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, which provided significant assistance in securing the defendants’ arrests and extradition from the Dominican Republic with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service. He also recognized the critical cooperation of the Dominican government in effecting the extradition of Rodriguez Guzman and Reynoso Ventura pursuant to the treaty between the two countries.
“The Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch and its law enforcement partners will vigorously pursue criminals who defraud victims through so-called ‘grandparent scams,’” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will continue to identify perpetrators of these schemes and prioritize the pursuit of those who deliberately target vulnerable Americans from abroad. We thank the government of the Dominican Republic for extraditing these defendants to the United States to face charges.”
“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 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. Conspirators like Rodriguez Guzman and Reynoso Ventura allegedly impersonated a variety of people — police officers, lawyers and others — to convince the victims to pay up, which the panic-stricken grandparents often did. My office is committed to protecting the rights of all victims, and we will relentlessly prosecute those who allegedly target vulnerable seniors to steal their hard-earned savings.”
“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’s Boston/New York Field Division. “SSA OIG proudly joined HSI, the FBI, the Justice Department and the NYPD in investigating these complex, international scams aimed at defrauding SSA beneficiaries and we appreciate the diligence of the U.S. Marshals Service in facilitating the extradition of these defendants from the Dominican Republic to New Jersey to hold them accountable for their actions.”
“We are now one step closer to holding accountable the alleged fraudsters who financially exploited hundreds of elderly Americans,” said NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban. “This should serve as a reminder to other criminals about the extensive reach of New York law enforcement and our unwavering commitment to delivering justice to all victims. I applaud our NYPD investigators and all of our federal partners for their dedication to this important case.”
HSI New York leads and directs all operational and administrative activities of the El Dorado Task Force. The El Dorado Task Force is the premier money laundering task force in the nation and comprises more than 200 law enforcement personnel representing approximately 35 federal, state and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies. The El Dorado Task Force encompasses a standalone Cyber Division as part of an effort to stay abreast of emerging criminal threats and in keeping with current and future investigative priorities. The mission of the El Dorado Task Force is to disrupt, dismantle or render ineffective organizations involved in the laundering of proceeds of narcotics trafficking and other financial crimes. Since its inception in 1992, the Task Force has been responsible for the seizure of approximately $600 million and more than 2,100 arrests.