PROVIDENCE, RI – United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha has announced that men have been charged in federal court for their alleged roles as “couriers” in grandparent scams that targeted seniors in multiple states including Rhode Island and Massachusetts. 29-year-old Roberto Munoz of Hialeah, FL, and 34-year-old Jason Rhodes of Flushing, New York, were both charged by federal criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Munoz and Rhodes were arrested by Warwick Police back on March 8 as detectives investigated the third complaint they had received in a single week from area residents, alleging that they had been contacted by, or had fallen victim to, scammers. Officials said after one set of grandparent victims had already turned over $18,000 to a courier to cover what they were told was bail for their grandson, the grandparents were contacted again, and were told that their grandchild was now being sued for $100,000, and that a $40,000 payment was immediately required. Officials said the grandparents contacted the Warwick Police Department, realizing it was a scam, which set up surveillance inside and outside the grandparents’ home while waiting for the courier to return. Rhodes was arrested at the house when he allegedly arrived to collect the money and Munoz was arrested while sitting in a car near the home, waiting for Rhodes. Police seized more than $60,000 in cash and other items from a hotel room and the car. A subsequent investigation by Warwick Police and Homeland Security Investigations determined that the defendants had allegedly been provided the names and addresses of grandparent scam victims in Coventry, Newport, Cranston, Hopkinton, West Greenwich, East Greenwich, and Smithfield, RI; in Stanhope, IA; and in Braintree, Hanover, Plymouth, Scituate, Cohasset, Stoughton, and Lakeville, MA. A device allegedly seized from Rhodes at the time of his arrest contained chat messages sent to him by Munoz that appear to contain names and addresses of target victims and their grandchildren in Wisconsin, Illinois, Virginia, Kansas, Maryland, Tennessee, Iowa, North Carolina, and New Jersey. Officials said the investigation remains ongoing, but, based upon local police reports it is believed that numerous families in Rhode Island and Massachusetts been victimized. Categories: News