Elder Scam Investigation Snares Suspects From Paulding, Cobb

GEORGIA — Two Georgia women — one from Dallas and one from Marietta — are among five people charged Monday with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering in connection with a scam aimed at the elderly.

Princess Elizer, 30, of Dallas and Jennifer Glemeau, 28, of Marietta are accused of helping cheat seniors out of more than $350,000 by convincing them that relatives were in serious trouble and in dire need of money, according to a statement from the United States Attorney’s Office in Indiana.

The defendants would travel to a city, identify unoccupied residences where overnight packages could be sent, then relay those addresses to their co-conspirators. The co-conspirators would then phone elderly victims and tell them that a grandchild or other relative needed money immediately, usually for a legal or medical emergency. If the victims sent the money — usually between $5,000 and $15,000 — to the overnight address, accomplices would track the package and then pick it up shortly after delivery.

According to the statement, an 82-year-old victim from Indiana was told that her daughter had been in an accident and was in legal trouble because a gun was found in her vehicle. In addition to asking for money, the caller allegedly told the victim that there was a “gag order” in her daughter’s case, to prevent the victim from sharing the story with others. In two shipments, the Crawfordsville victim sent a total of $12,500 in cash to the defendants.

Investigators said also that another 81-year-old victim was told her grandniece was involved in a collision that badly injured children in the other vehicle. That elderly victim shipped $9,000 to the conspirators but happened to speak with her grandniece before sending any more money, according to the charges. That led to a phone call to authorities, which led to the investigation.

To date, investigators have identified numerous victims of the defendants’ scheme, who in total have lost more than $350,000.The defendants are believed to have been doing this since at least April 2020.

“Stealing the hard-earned money of seniors by preying on the love and commitment they have for their families is hard to comprehend,” said John Childress, acting U.S. attorney in Indianapolis. “This type of loss not only causes significant financial hardship; it causes an emotional hardship for the victims as well.”

Others charged are Darlens Renard, 31, of North Lauderdale, Florida; Jasaun Pope, 30, of Valley Stream, New York; and Kareem Brown, 30, of North Baldwin, NewYork.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nick Linder and MaryAnn Mindrum, who are prosecuting this case for the government, each of the co-conspirators faces up to 20 years in prison on each charge if indicted and convicted.

The Department of Justice has an interactive tool for elders who have been financially exploited to help determine to which agency they should report their incident, and also a senior scam alert website. Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or at 877-FTC-HELP.