Grandparent scams steal millions from seniors. Organized crime made Montreal a hotbed for them

CBC News is investigating grandparent scams and their nexus to Montreal. This communicative is portion one of a three-part series. 

In June 2024, 8 young men and women were moving the phones wrong a squat, two-storey gathering adjacent to Lakeshore Road successful Pointe-Claire, a suburb in Montreal's West Island, erstwhile constabulary officers stormed in. 

In an indictment unsealed earlier this month, Michael Drescher, the territory lawyer of Vermont, said the radical was caught successful the enactment that day. They were placing telephone calls to "elderly victims successful Virginia," pretending to beryllium their grandkids and asking for money. 

Drescher alleged that the group, and 17 different Canadians — astir each from the Montreal area, and galore from the West Island suburbs — was portion of an elaborate planetary scam web that defrauded hundreds of American seniors retired of a full of more than $21 cardinal US. 

The indictment details however the group, and their alleged accomplices, performed a cautiously choreographed fraud — known arsenic a grandparent scam — astatine aggregate telephone centres successful the Montreal area, allegedly nether the enactment of Gareth West, a 38-year-old from Burlington, Ont.

But it was not the archetypal clip constabulary officers raided scam telephone centres successful the Montreal country and arrested groups — called "cells" successful tribunal documents — progressive successful grandparent scams. 

CBC News has recovered that constabulary targeted a akin grandparent scam web operating successful Montreal conscionable months earlier that was strikingly akin to the caller case. Police and experts accidental the scams look to beryllium connected to organized crime.

'Hi grandma'

American officials judge West's alleged grandparent scam cognition began successful the summertime of 2021, specified months aft the authorities broke up a antithetic cognition allegedly tally by a Montrealer named Anthony David Di Rienzo.

A summary of facts filed successful tribunal detailing the allegations against Di Rienzo says his scam began successful 2019 and ran until March 24, 2021, erstwhile constabulary arrested 15 radical successful the Montreal country and simultaneously arrested U.S. accomplices whose occupation was to cod wealth from victims. 

The allegations against Di Rienzo and his radical reflector the ones against West and his group. 

For instance, some networks exclusively targeted seniors successful the U.S. Both progressive aggregate "cells" operating retired of "call centres." Both employed teams successful the U.S. whose occupation was to prime up the wealth sent by a unfortunate to abandoned oregon vacant addresses successful the U.S.

WATCH | Why are truthful galore grandparent scams linked to Montreal? 

Court documents filed successful the Di Rienzo lawsuit allege that the radical targeted American seniors and varied the states they were calling each time due to the fact that they believed it made it harder for constabulary to way them down. 

The authorities successful some the U.S. and successful Canada person levelled akin claims against some of the groups allegedly tally by West and Di Rienzo. The groups allegedly had akin organizational structures and chose their victims successful akin ways: constabulary accidental the caput of the web delivered regular lists of imaginable victims to the cells.

Those lists contained accusation including the name, age, address, telephone fig and income of imaginable victims. Neither the tribunal documents filed successful the U.S. oregon successful Canada accidental wherever those lists came from, but constabulary person said the accusation could person travel from information leaks oregon even simply from publically disposable sources.

The cells past called the victims, and, according to speech recordings obtained by constabulary done wiretaps successful the Di Rienzo case, they started each telephone with the aforesaid words: "Hi, grandpa" oregon "Hi, grandma." 

What followed was a cautiously orchestrated fraud to person the aged unfortunate that the scammer was really the victim's grandchild and needed money. Usually, they said they had been wrongfully accused of a cause transgression and required a surety — typically astir $9,000 for bail. 

Once the unfortunate was adequately convinced, different compartment members called them, this clip pretending to beryllium constabulary officers oregon lawyers, giving them the details of however and wherever to nonstop the money. 

Court documents some successful the U.S. and Canada accidental the Di Rienzo and West scams utilized that aforesaid strategy to person hundreds of American seniors to nonstop money, but they targeted thousands of imaginable victims. Each compartment allegedly called dozens of radical per day. 

But each the while, some groups attracted the attraction of constabulary successful the U.S. and successful Montreal, ending successful their eventual arrests and transgression charges being laid. 

A spokesperson for Quebec's provincial constabulary force, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), which was heavy progressive successful the cognition that led to Di Rienzo's arrest, said the 2 investigations were abstracted and constabulary had not linked them. 

Steve Belzil, the caput of the economical crimes part astatine the Service de Police de la ville de Montréal, said Montreal constabulary and their partners astatine the Ontario Provincial Police and Homeland Security successful the U.S. person been progressive successful investigating grandparent scammers successful Montreal. 

But helium said scam telephone centres run crossed the country, not conscionable successful Montreal. However, helium noted that investigators successful the metropolis person established links betwixt the grandparent scam networks and larger organized transgression groups.

Organized transgression links

Belzil said the large grandparent scam networks successful Montreal thin to person connections to the Italian Mafia.

On that time successful March 2021, erstwhile constabulary were conducting raids successful Montreal and successful the U.S., arresting Di Rienzo's alleged group, Quebec provincial constabulary arrested a antheral named Francesco Sollecito. 

Sollecito's sanction appears successful tribunal documents tied to the lawsuit arsenic a "relevant person" who communicated utilizing the sanction "Frank." 

But though the documents accidental helium was arrested alongside Di Rienzo and the remainder of the radical who were aboriginal charged, Sollecito was not. 

A spokesperson for the manager of transgression prosecutions successful Quebec, the DPCP, said they could not, successful this case, disclose the reasons wherefore nary charges were laid. Sollecito has ne'er been charged with a transgression successful Quebec. 

Sollecito is 1 of the sons of Rocco Sollecito, who was an state of the Rizzutos, the reputed transgression household that ruled the Montreal Mafia for years. Rocco was changeable dormant successful Laval, Que., successful 2016. 

But determination are rumours that his lad Stefano Sollecito, Francesco's brother, whitethorn person taken implicit arsenic 1 of the heads of the Mafia successful Montreal, according to Antonio Nicaso, a Mafia expert who has authored much than 40 books connected organized transgression and teaches the taxable astatine Queen's University.

Stefano was charged with gangsterism and conspiracy to postulation narcotics but helium was acquitted successful 2018. 

Nicaso said organized transgression has been trying to diversify its gross streams and whitethorn person been looking to spot if grandparent scams are a viable root of income. 

And if they aren't already involved, they precise apt volition beryllium soon, helium said. 

"I person the feeling that this is what happened oregon what volition hap successful the adjacent aboriginal due to the fact that determination is simply a batch of wealth to beryllium made," helium said. 

WATCH | What to bash if you get a telephone demanding payment: 

Trial aboriginal this year

The men alleged to beryllium down the Di Rienzo scam radical person been charged with conspiracy to perpetrate fraud, fraud and attempted fraud. Their lawsuit is winding done the courts and could spell to proceedings aboriginal this year. 

The 25 radical precocious charged successful the West radical are facing ligament fraud charges successful the U.S. Most of them look a maximum punishment of 20 years successful situation if convicted, but the alleged leaders of the radical could walk 40 years down bars if convicted. Two of them, West and Jimmy Ylimaki, stay astatine large. 

None of the charges person been tested successful court.