A New York man pleaded guilty Tuesday to serving as a courier for a Dominican Republic-based “grandparent scam” that targeted elderly Americans.
Victor Anthony Valdez, 40, of the Bronx, New York, was charged in the District of New Jersey with one count of wire fraud conspiracy for his role in the scam.
According to the indictment, returned over the summer by a grand jury sitting in Newark, New Jersey, the scam operated from call centres in the Dominican Republic, making phone calls to elderly American victims purporting to be the victim’s grandchild, an attorney representing the grandchild in criminal proceedings, court personnel, or other persons associated with the legal system.
Co-conspirators told the victims that their grandchildren had been arrested and needed cash for bail or other expenses. Once victims were convinced through lies and falsehoods, coconspirators instructed the victims to provide cash to couriers, including Valdez, who went to victims’ homes to pick up the money.
While acting as a courier for the scam between August 2020 and August 2021, Valdez is alleged to have retrieved or attempted to retrieve tens of thousands of dollars from defrauded victims at their homes in New York and New Jersey. When he committed the offence, Valdez was an employee of the Social Security Administration, New York Region.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said, “Those who aid transnational criminals in deliberately targeting vulnerable consumers in the United States will be held accountable.”
U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger for the District of New Jersey noted that the defendant and his co-conspirators took advantage of grandparents’ love and concern for their grandchildren they believed to be in trouble, convincing them to pay thousands of dollars.
“Mr. Valdez intentionally conspired to defraud the elderly of their money and property through a cruel, international grandparent scam,” said Acting Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware of the Social Security Administration.
Valdez pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in a hearing in Newark before the Honorable Claire C. Cecchi of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Valdez is scheduled to be sentenced on April 9, 2025, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
