NEW HAVEN — A former city man allegedly defrauded older people “of large amounts of money” through a telephone scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Rhode Island.
Jean-Richard Audate, 35, now of Jamaica, N.Y., was indicted Monday on charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, three counts of mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft, officials said in an email.
Audate and other individuals allegedly “participated in a conspiracy to defraud (older) victims by posing on the telephone as their grandchild or other family member, or an attorney representing a family member,” officials said.
“The caller would convince victims that their family member had been arrested or incarcerated in another state or, was in financial and legal distress; and that cash payments were urgently needed to pay legal fees or related costs. Victims were instructed to send cash payments via FedEx or UPS to addresses provide by the conspirators,” officials said.
In January, city police received reports from departments beyond Connecticut, including in Rhode Island, that “(older) residents had been defrauded of large amounts of money through a grandparent scam” in which “victims were instructed to send cash payments to addresses in New Haven,” according to the email.
“New Haven Police determined that many of the addresses were in close proximity to one another, including the address of an Airbnb allegedly utilized by Audate,” officials said. “It is alleged that Audate visited many of the addresses and retrieved the packages, many of which New Haven Police and the FBI determined allegedly contained between as $7,900 and $150,000 in cash.”
Audate was arraigned in Providence, R.I. last Thursday and released on a $10,000 bond, officials said.
william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
