Men accused grandparents of scamming couriers out of $230,000 RI Mass

PROVIDENCE – Two men are accused of being couriers in a lucrative “grandparent fraud” that targeted people in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and nine other states.

Roberto Munoz, 29, of Hialeah, Florida, and Jason Rhodes, 34, of Flushing, NY, face federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha announced on Monday.

Warwick police had arrested the pair in March after local residents reported they had given thousands of dollars to people who convinced them their grandchildren were in trouble and needed help. The U.S. Attorney’s Office now alleges that Munoz and Rhodes collected approximately $230,000 as couriers from victims in more than a dozen communities in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

The people who commit so-called “grandparent fraud” often pose as relatives, lawyers or police officers, calling victims and convincing them that a family member, usually a grandchild, has been arrested and needs money for bail. The scammers will instruct victims to give cash to a courier, who will come to their home or pick them up at a delivery location.

The couriers usually work in a specific geographic area, where other people involved in the schemes will provide them with information and instructions about the victims they meet.

By early March, Warwick Police had received three complaints in a week from people who had been contacted by scammers. Their investigation led to them arresting Munoz and Rhodes.

A Warwick couple told police they had given $18,000 to a courier to cover bail for their grandson, but were then contacted again and told their grandchild was being charged for $100,000, so they now had to give $40,000. This is reported by the American Public Prosecution Service. The couple went to the police, who kept surveillance inside and outside the house while they waited for the courier to arrive. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Rhodes was arrested at the home when he arrived to pick up the money, while Munoz was arrested while sitting in a vehicle waiting for Rhodes.

Authorities searched the vehicle and a hotel room registered to Rhodes and seized more than $60,000 and other items. Ultimately, Warwick police and Homeland Security Investigations determined that the two men had allegedly been given the names and addresses of grandparents scam victims in Coventry, Newport, Cranston, Hopkinton, East Greenwich, West Greenwich and Smithfield, all in Rhode Island , and in Braintree, Hanover, Plymouth, Scituate, Cohasset, Stoughton and Lakeville, Massachusetts, as well as Stanhope, Iowa.

A device reportedly seized in Rhodes contained chat messages from Munoz that appear to include names and addresses of the victims and their grandchildren in Wisconsin, Illinois, Virginia, Kansas, Maryland, Tennessee, Iowa, North Carolina and New Jersey, according to the USA Law firm.

Munoz and Rhodes appeared before a federal magistrate judge on Friday and were released on unsecured bonds and electronic GPS monitoring.

Amanda Milkovits can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @AmandaMilkovits.