A group of 25 Canadians who go by code names like “Muscles,” “Truck,” and “Keanu” have been indicted for a “grandparent scam” that targeted U.S. seniors, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office in the District of Vermont.
A press release issued by the office this Thursday said that a federal grand jury returned an indictment Feb. 20 that charged the Canadian nationals – mostly from Québec – in connection with the scam, which impacted seniors in 41 states and defrauded them out of a $21 million This indictment was unsealed Tuesday.
Here is a list of individuals charged:
Gareth West, a.k.a. “Buddy” and “Muscles,” (38 – Burlington, Ontario)
Usman Khalid, a.k.a. “Paul” and “Pauly,” (36 – Les Coteaux, Québec)
Andrew Tatto, a.k.a. “Chevy” and “Truck,” (43 – Pierrefonds, Québec)
Stephan Moskwyn, a.k.a. “HK,” (42 – Pierrefonds, Québec)
Ricky Ylimaki, a.k.a. “Ruffles,” (31 – Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Québec)
Richard Frischman, a.k.a. “Styx,” (31 – Montréal, Québec)
Adam Lawrence, a.k.a. “Carter,” (41 – Lasalle, Québec)
Michael Filion, a.k.a. “Elvis,” (45 – Pierrefonds, Québec)
Jimmy Ylimaki, a.k.a. “Coop,” (35 – Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Québec)
Nicolas Gonzalez, a.k.a. “Brady,” (27 – Kirkland, Québec)
Ryan Melanson, a.k.a. “Parker,” (27 – Montréal, Québec)
Joy Kalafatidis, a.k.a. “Blondie,” (31 – Pointe-Claire, Québec)
David Arcobelli, a.k.a. “Phil,” (36 – Pierrefonds, Québec)
Jonathan Massouras, a.k.a. “Borze,” (35 - Dollard-Des Ormeaux, Québec)
Nicholas Shiomi, a.k.a. “Keanu,” (42 – Montréal, Québec)
Antonio Iannacci, a.k.a. “DJ,” (33 – Pierrefonds, Québec)
Jonathan Ouellet, a.k.a. “Sunny,” (29 - Saint-Eustache, Québec)
Kassey-Lee Lankford, a.k.a. “Lex,” (28 – Vaudreuil-Dorion, Québec)
Sara Burns, a.k.a. “Ginger,” (31 – Dollard-Des Ormeaux, Québec)
Justin Polenz, a.k.a. “Happy,” (34 – Montréal, Québec)
Ryan Thibert, a.k.a. “Toast,” (37 – Vaudreuil-Dorion, Québec)
Michael Farella, a.k.a. “Honda,” (29 - Sainte-Geneviève, Québec)
Sebastian Guenole, a.k.a. “Tweeter,” (30 – Pierrefonds, Québec)
Ryan Bridgman, a.k.a. “Clint,” (37 - Deux-Montagnes, Québec)
Stephanie-Marie Samaras, a.k.a. “North” (29 – Laval, Québec)
“All but two of the above-named individuals were arrested in Canada,” this Tuesday, said the district attorney’s office. West (a.k.a. “Buddy” and “Muscles”) and Ylimaki (a.k.a. “Ruffles”) were still at large this week.
Starting in summer 2021, the defendants began making phone calls from centers in Montreal, Québec, per the indictment. They would falsely claim to be a relative of their victims, usually their grandchild. They would sometimes tell the marks over the phone that they had been arrested following a car crash and needed money for “bail,” to get out of jail. In other cases, some of the defendants would pretend to be an attorney representing a victim’s relative. Often, the elderly victims were told there was a “gag order” in place, preventing them from discussing the alleged arrests with anyone.
“Elderly victims were convinced to provide bail money to an individual falsely posing as a bail bondsman, who would come to the elderly victim’s home to collect the money,” the district attorney’s office added. “This money was later transmitted to Canada following cash deliveries and financial transactions, sometimes involving cryptocurrency, which, the indictment alleges, obscured the source of the money and the identities of defendants.”
Law enforcement in Canada executed search warrants at some of the call centers last June. There, defendants were allegedly found placing calls to elderly victims in Virginia.
According the indictment, West, Khalid, Tatto, Moskwyn, and Ylimaki operated the call centers. It charges them with conspiring to commit money laundering. They face up to 40 years in prison if convicted, while the other defendants face up to 20 years in prison.
“An additional nine individuals have previously been charged in the District of Vermont in connection with this grandparent scam, including Otmane Khalladi (32 – Miami, Florida), Jean Richard Audate (39 – New York, New York), Philippe Alvarez (34 – Montréal, Québec), Paul Conneh (37 – Guangzhou, China), Dave Leblanc (37 – Greenacres, Florida), Zavier Buchanan (27 – Wellington, Florida), William Comfort (29 – Los Angeles, California), Alejandro Garcia (34 – Miami, Florida), and Enmanuel Castillo (31 – Miami, Florida),” said the district attorney’s office.
Fraud scams targeting elders have been on the rise recently. Last April, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that elder fraud complaints to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (or IC3) increased by 14% in 2023.
“If you or someone you know has been a victim of elder fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline (833-FRAUD-11),” said the district attorney’s office. “This hotline is a free resource created by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime for people to report fraud against anyone age 60 or older.”
These aren’t the only scams that people should be vigilant about. This January, Audacy reported on scams the Better Business Bureau wants Americans to know about this year and last month, we covered a scam related to fake IRS tax rebate checks.