Six Montrealers plead guilty to participating in grandparent scam targeting U.S. seniors

hexad Montrealers accused of defrauding American seniors come out of hundreds of thousands of dollars feature pleaded hangdog.

The men — saint david Anthony Di Rienzo, Tenaj Johnson, Carson Vaudry, Mason Pereira-Walker and Paul Letourneau and Steven Petruzziello — pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiracy and fraud charges. In an agreed statement of facts filed in court, they acknowledged making scam calls to U.S. Seniors between 2019 and 2021.

Prosecutors say they sought $1.5 million dollars from 1,700 people, much of which authorities say was seized before the scammers received it.

Another man, Joshua Sarroino, who is currently detained, charged with participating in a murder in, pleaded no contest, meaning that he accepts the conviction without admitting guilt. 

As part of their guilty plea, the men must pay about $90,000, the bulk of which is owed by Di Rienzo in reimbursement payments to eight victims. According to the agreed statement of facts, Di Rienzo is the scam network's leader.

Sentencing arguments, potentially including testimony from victims, are scheduled to take place in January. Petruzziello, however, was sentenced on Thursday to two years detention, involving one year of house arrest followed by three years of probation and 200 hours of community service.

The victim, Madeline, a senior who had worked as a nurse all her life, sent her savings to the scammers after they convinced her that one of her loved ones was in trouble and needed cash.

The money was intercepted in the mail, but Janelle, Madeline’s daughter, said the scam left her shaken. 

The scammers’ script, according to wiretap information gathered by police, mirrored a similar pattern: they would call prospective victims, using information on sheets provided by the scam leader, and say “hi grandma” or “hi grandpa.”

What followed was a carefully orchestrated scam that involved convincing their target that they were actually their grandchild and that they were in legal trouble.

Then, when the victim was convinced of the veracity of the scam, the scammer, known as the opener, would pass them off to a closer, someone who pretended to be a police officer or a lawyer whose job was to conclude the scam: tell the victim where to send their money, for example. 

Though prosecutors say the scam group only earned about $316,000 from the scam, documents filed in connection with the case that detailed some of the evidence gathered by police say that Di Rienzo owned multiple cars, including four Mercedes and a Rolls-Royce Phantom — a nearly $600,000 car.

Why Montreal is a hub for grandparent scammers — and what’s being done to stop them

The men were first arrested in 2021, and then were formally charged in 2023 as part of an investigation by Quebec provincial police dubbed Projet Partenariat.

One man, Darlens Renard, was convicted in the U.S. As a member of the scam whose job was to collect money from victims or at abandoned properties used as drop off points for the money. He was sentenced to six and a half years in prison. 

"What you all took from these people was so much more than money," Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson told Renard, according to court recordings. "You took their peace of mind. For many of them, you took their retirement savings and their ability to live out their final years in peace. You also brought shame to them because they were ashamed of having been fooled.

"They were victims, and they shouldn't be ashamed of loving their grandchildren or their niece or whoever your people claimed was the victim of this crime. But it has caused a pretty devastating psychological harm to them for the end of their lives."

The Di Rienzo scam group is one of multiple grandparent scams that police say have been operating out of Montreal in recent years. 

Police say these groups operate with the support of organized crime. Court documents have linked various groups, including the Italian mafia and biker gangs, to grandparent scam rings.

In a separate case, American authorities have charged 25 Quebecers with fraud charges for allegedly participating in a scam network that stole $30 million from victims across the U.S. 

That case is grinding through the Canadian court system, where the accused are contesting their extradition to the U.S., where they would face trial. 

The alleged leader of that scam network, Gareth West, presented himself as a wealthy real estate developer. He poured money into expensive real estate deals, often using cash, while he is alleged to have been earning millions from the scam. 

You can read our investigation here: 

Journalist

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