U.S. officials say 25 Canadians, mostly from the Montreal area, have been charged following an investigation into a massive grandparents scam that stole more than $21 million from seniors in Vermont and 40 other states.
According to the indictment unsealed on Tuesday, the suspects involved in the sophisticated phone operation worked from a network of call centres in Pointe-Claire and Vaudreuil-Dorion, west of downtown Montreal, and posed as relatives in urgent legal trouble and in need of quick bail money.
Others would pose as fake lawyers who would tell the elderly victims that there was a “gag order” in place preventing them from telling anyone about the emergency situation.
Suspects caught in middle of fraudulent call
The alleged scheme was carried out between the summer of 2021 through June 2024, netting millions of dollars per year, the indictment stated.
The money was then delivered to the accused and converted into Canadian dollars “for use in Canada.”
When police officers in Canada executed search warrants last June, one of the suspects, Ricky Ylimaki, a.k.a. “Ruffles,” was allegedly in his truck with several cellphones and lists of elderly people in various states.
More than 20 other accused were found in call centres in the act of allegedly calling an elderly victim in Virginia at the time of their arrest.
Michael J. Krol, a special agent in charge of Homeland Security investigations in New England, described the operation as “an elaborate scheme using fear to extort millions of dollars from victims who believed they were helping loved ones in trouble.”
“Today’s arrests are the result of domestic collaboration, as well as our critical international partnerships with our colleagues in Canada, Sûreté du Québec (SQ) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP),” he said in a statement. “Tackling transnational crime is one of our greatest priorities and we’re working hand-in-hand with our neighbours to dismantle organized criminal groups that threaten our safety and security.”
All of the accused were arrested on Tuesday, except for two — 38-year-old Gareth West, a.k.a. “Buddy” and “Muscles” of Burlington, Ont. and 35-year-old Jimmy Ylimaki, a.k.a. “Coop” of Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Que. — who remain at large.
Five people are accused of managing the call centres and are facing additional charges of conspiring to commit money laundering.
They could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted.
The other accused face up to 20 years in prison.
“Today’s arrests demonstrate IRS-CI’s commitment to protecting the American people from bad actors, no matter where they are hiding,” said Thomas Demeo, acting special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Boston field office.
“West and his associates led a transnational criminal enterprise with the sole intent of defrauding hundreds of retirees of their life savings by preying on their emotions and deceiving them into thinking that their loved ones were in peril,” Demeo continued. “IRS-CI is committed to continued collaboration with our law enforcement partners, both at home and abroad, to stop and deter anyone who seeks to profit off the hard work of U.S. citizens.”
List of 25 Canadian suspects
- Gareth West, 38, of Burlington, Ont.
- Usman Khalid, 36, of Les Coteaux, Que.
- Andrew Tatto, 43, of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Que.
- Stephan Moskwyn, 42, of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Que.
- Ricky Ylimaki, 31, of Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Que.
- Richard Frischman, 31, of Montreal, Que.
- Adam Lawrence, 41, of LaSalle, Que.
- Michael Filion, 45, of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Que.
- Jimmy Ylimaki, 35, of Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Que.
- Nicolas Gonzalez, 27, of Kirkland, Que.
- Ryan Melanson, 27, of Montreal, Que.
- Joy Kalafatidis, 31, of Pointe-Claire, Que.
- David Arcobelli, 36, of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Que.
- Jonathan Massouras, 35, of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que.
- Nicholas Shiomi, 42, of Montreal, Que.
- Antonio Iannacci, 33, of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Que.
- Jonathan Ouellet, 29, of Saint-Eustache, Que.
- Kassey-Lee Lankford, 28, of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.
- Sara Burns, 31, of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que.
- Justin Polenz, 34, of Montreal, Que.
- Ryan Thibert, 37, of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.
- Michael Farella, 29, of Sainte-Geneviève, Que.
- Sebastian Guenole, 30, of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Que.
- Ryan Bridgman, 37, of Deux-Montagnes, Que.
- Stephanie-Marie Samaras, 29, of Laval, Que.
Nine other people were previously charged in relation to the investigation:
- Otmane Khalladi, 32, of Miami, FL
- Jean Richard Audate, 39, of New York, NY
- Philippe Alvarez, 34, of Montreal, Que.
- Paul Conneh, 37, of Guangzhou, China
- Dave Leblanc, 37, of Greenacres, FL
- Zavier Buchanan, 27, of Wellington, FL
- William Comfort, 29, of Los Angeles, CA
- Alejandro Garcia, 34, of Miami, FL
- Enmanuel Castillo, 31, of Miami, FL
