A St. Louis-area man has been charged in a massive elder fraud scheme that tricked hundreds of people into believing their grandchildren needed financial help.
A federal judge in Massachusetts unsealed the indictment against 31-year-old Chaman Silverio Balbuena of Defiance and others on Tuesday. He is one of 13 people accused of being involved in a scheme known as a “grandparent scam.”
Prosecutors said that individuals in the Dominican Republic would call elderly individuals and pretend to be the victim’s grandchild who had been in a car accident. A second caller would then pretend to be the grandchild’s attorney who needed money for legal fees.
According to the indictment, Silverio Balbuena was one of several runners who would use unsuspecting rideshare drivers to pick up the fake legal fees from the victims. Court documents say rideshare accounts connected to Silverio Balbuena were used to collect at least $350,000 from at least 25 victims between November 2022 and February 2023.
All told, prosecutors believe the scheme hit more than 400 people and caused more than $5 million in losses.
Silverio Balbuena is charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and money laundering. Officials say he is in custody, and prosecutors are asking that all of the defendants remain behind bars to ensure that they don't flee the United States.
Court documents say Silvero Balbuena, who is of Dominican descent, is in the United States without legal status. He came to the country in 2018 after marrying a U.S. citizen, but that marriage ended in 2022.
