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.

United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts

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 grandchild who had been in a car accident. A second caller would then pretend to be the grandchild’s attorney who needed money for legal fees.

According to the indictment, Silverio Balbuena was one of several runner

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