International call center scheme targeted elderly Americans with losses of more than $40 million
The FBI San Diego Elder Justice Task Force, along with over 100 law enforcement personnel, executed multiple federal and state arrest and search warrants on Nov. 5, targeting an international elder scam network.
A federal indictment unsealed on Nov. 5 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California charged 22 individuals in the Southern California region for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and/or conspiracy to commit money laundering as part of an international elder fraud tech support and refund scam targeting American seniors.
Court documents say that the task force busted an Indian call center scam targeting elderly individuals across the United States. The scheme operates from foreign countries—namely India, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—and defrauds victims multiple times: first through a technical support scam and then through a refund scam. The global scheme has been ongoing since at least July 2021.
While the full scope of the victimization is still being uncovered, the FBI has identified over 500 suspected or confirmed U.S. victims with the approximate loss amount exceeding $40 million.
Seth Michael Sheldon, Age: 23; Jose Anthony Cardenas Ortiz, Age: 25; Jose Lauro Luiz Munoz, Age: 48; Matthew Brandon Oh-Slack, Age: 26; Ryan Navarro Anorma, Age: 47; Malique Jordan Shaw, Age: 26; Kenneth Odin Lara, Age: 40; Steven Ray Basic, Age: 21; Nicholas Edward Webber, Age: 24; Jonathan Enriquez Limfueco, Age: 42; Christina Michele Asmus, Age: 45; Andrew Butch Divine, Age: 30; Joshua Estrada, Age: 46; Zachariah Michael T S Siganoff, Age: 30; Edgar Galindez, Age: 32; All are from San Diego.
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Those listed above are charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and face a maximum of 40 years in prison.
Also charged are Victor Lee Marion, age 41; Justin Lewis, age 24; Michael Jeeho Yi, age 25; Andre Hammond Jr, age 26; Iman Shenko Abdulbasir, age 23; Carlo Humberto Hernandez, age 45, and Donel Gem Gutierrez Labaco, age 38. All of the above are from San Diego.
Those listed above are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and face a maximum of 20 years in prison.
“As today’s numerous arrests confirm, FBI San Diego’s Elder Justice Task Force and its partner agencies are leading the charge against fraudsters targeting American seniors,” said Mark Dargis, special agent in charge of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “Our nation’s elderly citizens deserve to be treated with respect, not scammed out of their hard-earned savings by criminals exploiting their trust. FBI San Diego and our local and federal law enforcement partners will relentlessly investigate those who prey on our senior community and ensure they are held fully accountable.”
According to court documents, this fraud scheme is believed to be ongoing and operates in three distinct phases: the Opener Phase (a tech support scam); the Closer Phase (a refund scam); and the Money Transmitter Phase (money laundering of refund scam proceeds to entities whose products are used to facilitate the scheme and transmission of funds back to overseas actors).
The charged defendants in this case are alleged to have participated in the scheme primarily as money transmitters; however, some of the charged defendants were recruited to elevated positions within the criminal organization and participated in the refund portion of the scam, taking calls with live victims.
Court documents say that San Diego resident Victor Marion is alleged to have orchestrated U.S.-based individuals in Southern California to receive millions of dollars of elder fraud victim funds and immediately transfer the majority of the funds to overseas actors. Marion is alleged to have maintained direct communication with India- and Dubai-based leaders of the transnational criminal organization and run the TCO’s San Diego-based money laundering cell since at least fall 2023.
Court records say that Marion allegedly used his business—Mecca Barbershop—to recruit money launderers and consolidate elderly victim funds. As the leader of the San Diego money laundering cell, Marion received a percentage of the fraud funds that were laundered through the 20-plus co-conspirators working under his purview. Marion is alleged to have helped those money launderers graduate into higher levels of the organization, including by relocating abroad to defraud elderly Americans from India and Dubai.
The scheme's foreign leaders allegedly offered San Diego-based money transmitters all-expenses-paid trips to Thailand. On these trips, the foreign leaders paid for flights (on at least one occasion via first class) and all other expenses, treated money transmitters lavishly, described the nature of the scheme in detail, had them shadow a closer, brought them to a villa, and then—if the money transmitters agreed—trained them for weeks on how to be closers and honed their skillset on live victims.
In addition to the 19 arrests today, the FBI San Diego EJTF seized multiple bank accounts used as part of the fraudulent scheme, as well as a BMW vehicle purchased with victim funds.
Marion and 18 of his alleged co-conspirators were arrested over the last 24 hours on November 5 and will make initial appearances later this week.
This investigation was led by the San Diego Elder Justice Task Force, which is a collaboration between the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, the San Diego District Attorney’s Office, Adult Protective Services, and the San Diego Law Enforcement Coordination Center, with additional assistance from the Azusa, California Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations San Diego, the U.S. Border Patrol Tactical Unit, the FBI Los Angeles Riverside Resident Agency, the FBI Sacramento Fresno Resident Agency, FBI Phoenix, and FBI Las Vegas.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ashley Goff and Shivanjali Sewak are prosecuting the defendants.
The FBI, San Diego Police Department, San Diego County Sheriff's Office, San Diego District Attorney’s Office, Azusa Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations helped arrest the group.
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