Date: March 4, 2025
Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov
Burlington, VT — The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that on February 20, 2025, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging the following 25 Canadian nationals with participation in a “grandparent scam” that defrauded elderly individuals in Vermont and more than 40 other states:
- Gareth West, a.k.a. “Buddy” and “Muscles,” (Burlington, Ontario)
- Usman Khalid, a.k.a. “Paul” and “Pauly,” (Les Coteaux, Québec)
- Andrew Tatto, a.k.a. “Chevy” and “Truck,” (Pierrefonds, Québec)
- Stephan Moskwyn, a.k.a. “HK,” (Pierrefonds, Québec)
- Ricky Ylimaki, a.k.a. “Ruffles,” (Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Québec)
- Richard Frischman, a.k.a. “Styx,” (Montréal, Québec)
- Adam Lawrence, a.k.a. “Carter,” (Lasalle, Québec)
- Michael Filion, a.k.a. “Elvis,” (Pierrefonds, Québec)
- Jimmy Ylimaki, a.k.a. “Coop,” (Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Québec)
- Nicolas Gonzalez, a.k.a. “Brady,” (Kirkland, Québec)
- Ryan Melanson, a.k.a. “Parker,” (Montréal, Québec)
- Joy Kalafatidis, a.k.a. “Blondie,” (Pointe-Claire, Québec)
- David Arcobelli, a.k.a. “Phil,” (Pierrefonds, Québec)
- Jonathan Massouras, a.k.a. “Borze,” (Dollard-Des Ormeaux, Québec)
- Nicholas Shiomi, a.k.a. “Keanu,” (Montréal, Québec)
- Antonio Iannacci, a.k.a. “DJ,” (Pierrefonds, Québec)
- Jonathan Ouellet, a.k.a. “Sunny,” (Saint-Eustache, Québec)
- Kassey-Lee Lankford, a.k.a. “Lex,” (Vaudreuil-Dorion, Québec)
- Sara Burns, a.k.a. “Ginger,” (Dollard-Des Ormeaux, Québec)
- Justin Polenz, a.k.a. “Happy,” (Montréal, Québec)
- Ryan Thibert, a.k.a. “Toast,” (Vaudreuil-Dorion, Québec)
- Michael Farella, a.k.a. “Honda,” (Sainte-Geneviève, Québec)
- Sebastian Guenole, a.k.a. “Tweeter,” (Pierrefonds, Québec)
- Ryan Bridgman, a.k.a. “Clint,” (Deux-Montagnes, Québec)
- Stephanie-Marie Samaras, a.k.a. “North” (Laval, Québec)
All but two of the above-named individuals were arrested in Canada on March 4, 2025. West and Jimmy Ylimaki remain at large.
According to the Indictment, which was unsealed on March 4, 2025, between the summer of 2021 and June 4, 2024, the defendants engaged in a “grandparent scam” involving phone calls made from call centers in and around Montreal, Québec. During these phone calls, defendants falsely claimed to be an elderly victim’s relative, typically a grandchild, who had been arrested following a car crash and needed money for “bail.” Other defendants posed as an “attorney” representing the elderly victim’s relative. Elderly victims were often told that there was a “gag order” in place to prevent the elderly victim from telling anyone about their family member’s supposed arrest. Elderly victims were convinced to provide bail money to an individual falsely posing as a bail bondsman, who would come to the elderly victim’s home to collect the money. This money was later transmitted to Canada following cash deliveries and financial transactions, sometimes involving cryptocurrency, which, the Indictment alleges, obscured the source of the money and the identities of defendants.
On June 4, 2024, when law enforcement in Canada executed search warrants at several call centers, many of the defendants were found in the act of placing phone calls to elderly victims in Virginia. The Indictment alleges the call centers were managed by West, Khalid, Tatto, Moskwyn, and Ricky Ylimaki, and also charges these five defendants with conspiring to commit money laundering. The conspiracy defrauded elderly Americans out of more than $21 million.
The United States Attorney’s Office emphasizes that an indictment contains allegations only and that the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. West, Khalid, Tatto, Moskwyn and Ricky Ylimaki face up to 40 years of imprisonment if convicted, and the remaining defendants face up to 20 years of imprisonment if convicted. The actual sentences, however, would be determined by the District Court with guidance from the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines and the statutory sentencing factors.
An additional nine individuals have previously been charged in the District of Vermont in connection with this grandparent scam, including Otmane Khalladi (Miami, Florida), Jean Richard Audate (New York, New York), Philippe Alvarez (Montréal, Québec), Paul Conneh (Guangzhou, China), Dave Leblanc (Greenacres, Florida), Zavier Buchanan (Wellington, Florida), William Comfort (Los Angeles, California), Alejandro Garcia (Miami, Florida), and Enmanuel Castillo (Miami, Florida).
“While the transnational criminal conspiracy described in the Indictment preyed on vulnerable victims throughout the United States, these charges are the result of painstaking investigatory work by Vermont-based agents from Homeland Security Investigations, United States Customs and Border Protection, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation,” observed Acting United States Attorney Michael P. Drescher. “In addition, we recognize the extensive investigative assistance provided by Sûreté du Québec and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.” Drescher also stressed the contributions of numerous other local, state, and federal investigators and agencies across the United States who assisted the investigation, and commended the contributions of the United States Department of Justice Office of International Affairs as well as the International Assistance Group at Justice Canada.
“Today’s arrests demonstrate Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) commitment to protecting the American people from bad actors, no matter where they are hiding.” said Thomas Demeo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the IRS-CI, Boston Field Office. “West and his associates led a transnational criminal enterprise with the sole intent of defrauding hundreds of retirees of their life savings by preying on their emotions and deceiving them into thinking that their loved ones were in peril. IRS-CI is committed to continued collaboration with our law enforcement partners, both at home and abroad, to stop and deter anyone who seeks to profit off the hard work of U.S. citizens.”
“These individuals are accused of an elaborate scheme using fear to extort millions of dollars from victims who believed they were helping loved ones in trouble. Today’s arrests are the result of domestic collaboration as well as our critical international partnerships with our colleagues in Canada, Sûreté du Québec and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Tackling transnational crime is one of our greatest priorities and we’re working hand-in-hand with our neighbors to dismantle organized criminal groups that threaten our safety and security,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol for Homeland Security Investigations in New England.
The prosecutors are Assistant United States Attorneys Nate Burris and Michelle Arra.
The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of elder fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline (833-FRAUD-11). This hotline is a free resource created by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime for people to report fraud against anyone age 60 or older.
IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.