Missouri man among 13 charged in $5M 'grandparent scam' targeting seniors
BOSTON - Thirteen people, including a Missouri man, have been charged in a nationwide $5 million "grandparent scam" that tricked hundreds of seniors into believing their grandchildren needed urgent financial help.
Chaman Samael Silverio Balbuena, 31, of Defiance, Missouri, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Balbuena, who also went by the alias Chammy," was allegedly a "runner" in the wide-ranging scam, and he is in custody as of August 12.
Investigators say the scheme allegedly involved a “call center” operation in the Dominican Republic that defrauded more than 400 elderly victims out of $5 million. The victims averaged 84 years old and included at least 50 individuals in Massachusetts.
According to federal charging documents, the alleged call center leader, Oscar Manuel Castanos Garcia, ran a sophisticated operation. Scams typically began with a carefully scripted call from an "opener" pretending to be the victim's grandchild and claiming they had been in an accident.
Then, a “closer” would allegedly make another call to the victim, pretending to be their grandchild’s attorney and demanding cash.
Castanos Garcia allegedly ran these call center locations with help from several managers who allegedly supervised, instructed and paid the employees.
As alleged in the indictment, callers instructed elderly victims to provide cash to "runners" in the United States. Oftentimes, victims were told to hand packages of cash to rideshare drivers sent to their home by a runner.
The runners would then have the unsuspecting rideshare drivers deliver the packages to the them at nearby locations. In some cases, victims were directed to mail cash to specified addresses.
At times, victims were called again and asked for additional funds, sometimes up to three additional times.
It is further alleged that, at the direction of Castanos Garcia and others, the runners laundered money by depositing cash into bank accounts or delivering it to co-conspirators in New York and elsewhere. Operations of the scheme relied on money launderers in both the United States and Dominican Republic to move proceeds back to Castanos Garcia.
If convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and money laundering charges, Castanos Garcia, Balbuena and others could face up to 40 years behind bars.
Members of the public who believe they may be victims of this case, or other elder fraud scams, should contact 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.
