{"id":56841,"date":"2024-06-25T19:17:18","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T02:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=56841"},"modified":"2024-06-25T19:19:03","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T02:19:03","slug":"new-york-man-indicted-for-alleged-involvement-in-dominican-republic-grandparent-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=56841","title":{"rendered":"New York Man Indicted for Alleged Involvement in Dominican Republic-Based &#8220;Grandparent Scam&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-29042 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Scam-calls-300x294.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Scam-calls-300x294.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Scam-calls.jpg 698w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>A federal grand jury charged Victor Anthony Valdez, 39, of the Bronx, for his role as a courier in a \u201cgrandparent scam\u201d based in the Dominican Republic that targeted elderly Americans, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Valdez faces one count of wire fraud conspiracy. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The indictment, unsealed today in Newark, New Jersey, reveals that the scam operated from call centers in the Dominican Republic. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">These centers called elderly Americans, pretending to be the victims&#8217; grandchildren, attorneys, court personnel, or other legal system representatives. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The scammers claimed the victims&#8217; grandchildren had been arrested and needed cash for bail or other expenses. Once convinced, the victims were instructed to give cash to couriers, including Valdez, who went to their homes to collect the money.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-21344 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Lottery-scam-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Lottery-scam-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Lottery-scam-90x60.jpg 90w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Lottery-scam-180x120.jpg 180w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Lottery-scam-95x64.jpg 95w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Lottery-scam.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>From August 2020 to August 2021, Valdez allegedly retrieved or attempted to retrieve tens of thousands of dollars from defrauded victims in New York and New Jersey.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u201cMr. Valdez knowingly preyed upon the elderly for his own gain,\u201d said Inspector General Gail S. Ennis for the Social Security Administration (SSA). \u201cWe appreciate our law enforcement partners joining us in investigating and prosecuting these complex, international scams aimed at defrauding elderly Americans, many of whom rely on SSA benefits to make ends meet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">If convicted, Valdez faces\u00a0 up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">SSA\u2019s Office of the Inspector General and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Trial Attorney Joshua Ferrentino of the Civil Division\u2019s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Silane for the District of Jersey are prosecuting the case.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal grand jury charged Victor Anthony Valdez, 39, of the Bronx, for his role as a courier in a \u201cgrandparent scam\u201d based in the Dominican Republic that targeted elderly Americans, officials&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>New York Man Indicted for Alleged Involvement in Dominican Republic-Based &quot;Grandparent Scam&quot;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A federal grand jury charged Victor Anthony Valdez, 39, of the Bronx, for his role as a courier in a \u201cgrandparent scam\u201d based in the Dominican Republic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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