Following a five-day trial in Pittsburgh federal court, a jury convicted two Las Vegas men of defrauding elderly residents in Western Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
Roderick Feurtado, 56, and Tarek Bouanane, 47, of Las Vegas and evidence at trial established that they traveled to the Pittsburgh area in September 2021 intending to defraud elderly residents of “large amounts of cash,” according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
State police dubbed the conspiracy a “grandparents scam,” which have been around for years.
However, these cases had a new twist that is “more brazen and emboldened,” Trooper Steve Limani said when the men were arrested in October 2021.
“As part of the scheme, members of the conspiracy contacted numerous victims and falsely claimed that a family member of the victims — usually a grandchild — had been detained in connection with a legal proceeding and needed money for bail,” the Justice Department said.
Though, in reality, the family members had not been detained, the elderly residents were directed to withdraw cash and provide it to a “courier,” who would visit them at their homes. The couriers were actually members of the conspiracy, according to the Justice Department.
Allegheny County victims included residents in Bethel Park, Canton Township, North Fayette and Upper St. Clair; two were in White Oak and three in Pittsburgh.
The two victims from Westmoreland lived in Hempfield and Unity.
Bouanane acted as one of the couriers, while Feurtado acted as the “safe house,” giving directions to couriers and collecting the money obtained from the transactions.
State police seized about $220,000 from the defendants, but the co-conspirators were responsible for at least $250,000 in total losses in Western Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
Feurtado and Bouanane had kept an unspecified portion of the fraud proceeds and were planning on sharing the rest with their other co-conspirators.
The defendants will now await sentencing. “Feurtado and Bouanane represent the worst that society has to offer. They prey upon the love and concern that our amazing senior citizens have for their families,” said William Walker, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigation out of Philadelphia.
