March 26 (UPI) — A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh has indicted a Cleveland resident from the Dominican Republic on charges accusing him of running a fraud scheme targeting the elderly.
Luis Alfonso Bisono Rodriguez, 34, is indicted on federal charges accusing him of receiving stolen money that crossed a state border, Acting U.S. Attorney for Western Pennsylvania Troy Rivetti announced Wednesday.
Rodriguez is the only defendant and initially was charged on a criminal complaint on Friday and arrested in the Cleveland area.
The federal complaint accuses Rodriguez of being a member of an organized crime group operating throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio to defraud victims of tens of thousands of dollars in a “grandparent fraud scheme,” Rivetti said.
“Scammers call a grandparent and impersonate their grandchild in a crisis, such as an accident or arrest,” Rivetti said, “and then ask the grandparent to send immediate financial assistance.”
The money from the elderly victims allegedly was collected in Pennsylvania and transported to Rodriguez in different parts of northern Ohio via Uber and Lyft drivers, Rivetti said.
Surveillance videos from different retail locations show Rodriguez meeting the drivers and receiving the stolen money, Rivetti said.
After receiving the money, Rodriguez allegedly wired the proceeds to the Dominican Republic and made deposits into bank accounts.
Rodriguez allegedly operated the grandparent fraud scheme from October to January and victimized at least five elderly individuals in western Pennsylvania.
The scheme netted more than $50,000, Rivetti said, adding that it’s likely more people have been victimized.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation asks anyone with information about the scam or who might have been victimized to report the fraud through the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
The FBI’s Pittsburgh and Cleveland offices investigated the matter with the help of the Parma Police Department in northern Ohio and several local police departments in western Pennsylvania.
Although a grand jury has indicted Rodriguez, he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The FBI says such elder fraud schemes cost seniors more than $3 billion annually.
Seniors are popular targets for fraud schemes because many have retirement savings and other assets and generally are trusting and polite, according to the FBI.
