Source: United States Department of Justice News
Tampa, Florida – The Justice Department announced today the results of its efforts over the past year to protect older adults from fraud and exploitation. During the past year, the Department and its law enforcement partners tackled matters that ranged from mass-marketing scams that impacted thousands of victims to bad actors scamming their neighbors. Substantial efforts were also made over the last year to return money to fraud victims. Today, the Department also announced it is expanding its Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force to amplify efforts to combat scams originating overseas.
“We are intensifying our efforts nationwide to protect older adults, including by more than tripling the number of U.S. Attorneys’ offices participating in our Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force dedicated to disrupting, dismantling and prosecuting foreign-based fraud schemes that target American seniors,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This expansion builds on the Justice Department’s existing work to hold accountable those who steal funds from older adults, including by returning those funds to the victims where possible.”
“Protecting our nation’s most vulnerable populations is a priority of our Office,” stated U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg for the Middle District of Florida. “We will continue to work diligently with our partners in law enforcement and the community to ensure that our seniors are safe and secure from fraud, scams, and financial exploitation.”
During the period from September 2021 to September 2022, Department personnel and its law enforcement partners pursued approximately 260 cases involving more than 600 defendants, both bringing new cases and advancing those previously charged. This past year, the Middle District of Florida pursued 10 cases involving 11 defendants, who collectively stole more than $22 million from fraud victims, the majority of whom were elderly. See chart below for details.
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United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida Elder Fraud Cases |
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Charged Cases |
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Defendant(s) (Age) |
Charge(s) Maximum Imprisonment |
Type of Fraud |
Approximate Intended Loss Amount |
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Tampa Division |
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Margarett Chevry (71) |
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud Maximum Prison Term: 20 Years Wire fraud Maximum Prison Term: 20 Years |
Romance fraud |
$727,000 |
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Phillip Roy Wasserman (65) |
Conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud Maximum Prison Term: 20 Years Wire fraud Maximum Prison Term: 20 Years Mail fraud Maximum Prison Term: 20 Years Tax evasion Maximum Prison Term: 5 Years Fraud and false statements Maximum Prison Term: 5 Years |
Investment fraud |
$6.3 million |
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These elder fraud cases from the Tampa Division are being handled by AUSAs Jennifer Peresie, Rachelle DesVaux Bedke, and Rachel Jones |
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Orlando Division |
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Keith Ingersoll (45) James Adamczyk (65) |
Wire fraud Maximum Prison Term: 20 Years |
Investment fraud |
$10 million |
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This elder fraud case from the Orlando Division is being handled by AUSA Amanda Daniels |
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Adjudicated Cases |
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Tampa Division |
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Kenneth Rossman (63) |
Conspiracy Maximum Prison Term: 5 Years Aiding and assisting fraud and false statements Maximum Prison Term: 3 years |
Investment fraud |
$6.3 million |
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William Perez (27) |
Conspiracy to commit money laundering Maximum Prison Term: 20 Years |
Government impersonator fraud |
$246,000 |
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These elder fraud cases from the Tampa Division are being handled by AUSA Rachelle DesVaux Bedke and SAUSA Suzanne Huyler |
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Sentenced Cases |
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Tampa Division |
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Sarafina Braddy (24) |
Conspiracy to commit money laundering Sentence Imposed: 7 days in federal prison |
Jamaican lottery fraud |
$300,000 |
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Jeffrey Jedlicki (51) |
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud Sentence Imposed: 8 years in federal prison |
Investment fraud |
$3.24 million |
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Tracy Jedlicki (56) |
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud Sentence Imposed: 30 months in federal prison |
Investment fraud |
$3.24 million |
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Lori Owen (50) |
Conspiracy to commit bank, wire, and mail fraud Sentence Imposed: 5 years, 3 months in federal prison |
Investment fraud |
$1.38 million |
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These elder fraud cases from the Tampa Division were handled by AUSAs Rachel Jones and David Chee |
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Fort Myers Division |
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Nicole Sprague (38) |
Conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud Sentence Imposed: 2 years, 9 months in federal prison |
Technical support scam |
$298,000 |
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This elder fraud case from the Fort Myers Division was handled by AUSA Yolande Viacava |
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As part of the Middle District of Florida’s elder fraud efforts, we have engaged in community outreach efforts to citizens and industry professionals to raise awareness about scams and exploitation and ways to prevent victimization. This year, the MDFL partnered with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Gulfport Police Department to engage senior citizens in discussions about prevalent fraud schemes and various prevention strategies.
The Department also highlighted three other efforts: expansion of the Transnational Elder Fraud Task Force, success in returning money to victims and efforts to combat grandparent scams.
The Department announced that as part of its continuing efforts to protect older adults and bring perpetrators of fraud schemes to justice it is expanding the Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force, adding 14 new U.S. Attorney’s Offices. Expansion of the Strike Force will help to coordinate the Department’s ongoing efforts to combat largest and most harmful fraud schemes that target or disproportionately impact older adults. The Middle District of Florida is one of the original strike force districts.
In the past year, the Department has notified over 550,000 people that they may be eligible for remission payments. Notifications were made to consumers whose information was sold by one of three data companies prosecuted by the Department and were later victims of “sweepstakes” or “astrology” solicitations that falsely promised prizes or individualized services in return for a fee. More than 150,000 of those victims cashed checks totaling $52 million, and thousands more are eligible to receive checks. Also notified were consumers who paid fraudsters perpetrating person-in-need scams and job scams via Western Union. In the past year, the Department has identified and contacted over 300,000 consumers who may be eligible for remission. Since March of 2020 more than 148,000 victims have received more than $366 million as a result of a 2017 criminal resolution with Western Union for the company’s willful failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and its aiding and abetting of wire fraud.
Over the past year, the Department pursued cases against the perpetrators of “grandparent scams,” otherwise known as “person-in-need scams.” These scams typically begin when a fraudster, often based overseas, contacts an older adult and poses as either a grandchild, other family member or someone calling on behalf of a family member. Call recipients are told that their family member is in jeopardy and is urgently in need of money. When recently sentencing one of eight perpetrators of a grandparent scam indicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a federal judge described such scams “heartbreakingly evil.” The Department is working with government partners and others to raise awareness about these schemes.
Reporting from consumers about fraud and fraud attempts is critical to law enforcements efforts to investigate and prosecute schemes targeting older adults. If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833 FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This Department of Justice Hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professional who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting or connect them with agencies, and provide resources and referrals on a case-by-case basis. The hotline is staffed seven days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. English, Spanish and other languages are available. More information about the Department’s elder justice efforts can be found on the Department’s Elder Justice website, www.elderjustice.gov.
Some of the cases that comprise today’s announcement are charges, which are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.