Chaman Silverio Balbuena, 31, is accused of helping route cash from the victims to the Dominican Republic. Prosecutors say he would pick up collect money from elderly victims, who were tricked into thinking their grandchild had been in a car accident and needed legal fees.

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 grandchi

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