BURLINGTON – A Florida man has been sentenced to serve a little more than three years in prison for his role in an international “grandparent scam” that defrauded older Americans, including those in Vermont, out of millions of dollars.
The case provides an inside look at what prosecutors termed a highly sophisticated scheme that involved dozens of people posing in various and specific roles to carry it out, from fake bail bondsmen to phony attorneys.
“This is one of the most extraordinarily serious fraud schemes that I’ve seen in my years on the bench,” federal Judge William K. Sessions III, said Thursday in ordering a 37-month prison term for Dave Leblanc during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Burlington. Sessions has served as a federal judge since 1995.
Leblanc, 28, of Greenacres, Florida, had earlier pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathanael Burris, the prosecutor, said in court Thursday that Leblanc was the latest among roughly a half-dozen defendants who have been sentenced in connection with the scam. Several more people were facing pending charges or warrants for their arrests.
Earlier this year, federal authorities in Vermont announced they had charged 25 Canadian nationals in connection with the “grandparent scam” that defrauded older Americans out of more than $21 million.
Between the summer of 2021 and June 4, 2024, those charged engaged in a scam involving phone calls made from call centers in and around Montreal, according to charging documents.
The scam, according to federal authorities, defrauded individuals in Vermont and more than 40 other states.
The defendants falsely claimed during phone calls to be an elderly victim’s relative, often a grandchild, who had been arrested and was in need of bail money, the documents stated.
Leblanc, as well as others charged in the scam, would pose a “bail bondsman” or direct others to pick up packages of bulk cash at locations where the victims had mailed the money, court records stated.
“(Leblanc) and his immediate co-conspirators personally collected between $2,500,000 and $3,000,000 and participated in the laundering of this money to co-conspirators in the United States and Canada,” Burris wrote in a sentencing document filed ahead of Thursday’s hearing.
Burris called on the judge to sentence Leblanc to 10 years in prison, citing in large part the vulnerability of the elderly victims the scam preyed on, many of whom were in their 80s and 90s.
“Had Leblanc taken $3,000,000 from a bank vault, his conduct would be considered exceptionally serious, and there would be no question that just punishment would include a substantial sentence of incarceration,” Burris wrote. “The fact that he instead took the money from the hands of his elderly victims should be viewed as comparatively more serious.”
Burris called the organization of the scam “highly sophisticated,” with people even creating and maintaining payroll records for those involved.
The players involved, Burris added, also had distinct roles, from those staffing and managing the call centers to others responsible for collecting and laundering the money.
After the initial caller contacted a grandparent, a second person posing as an “attorney” representing the family member in trouble would then tell the elderly victim in the scam to provide a “large sum of cash,” often thousands of dollars, to help bail out the family member from jail, Burris wrote.
“The attorneys involved in this scam often identify themselves by various fictitious names, which sometimes are re-used in connection with calls to multiple elderly victims,” the prosecutor wrote. “The elderly victim is then instructed to provide the ‘bail money’ to a ‘bail bondsman’ who comes to the elderly victim’s home later the same day.”
Also, Burris wrote, the attorney tells the elderly victim that there is a “gag order” in effect that prohibits the victim from discussing the matter with anyone, adding that doing so could create more problems for the family member they are trying to help.
The call centers, sometimes called “boiler rooms,” can be located in places such as warehouses, office buildings, residences, condominiums or rental properties, Burris wrote.
“A manager may also be present in the call center and is usually responsible for logistics, such as making sure the telephones used by the call center are ready each day,” the prosecutor wrote. “The manager also controls the ‘leads’ — personal identifying information of elderly individuals in the United States purchased by the call centers for cents per lead.”
Michael Straub, Leblanc’s attorney, argued during Thursday’s hearing for a prison term of no more than 25 months for his client.
He said Leblanc had no prior criminal record and was in his early 20s when he began his role in the scam and has since matured and become a valued member of his community. Straub said Leblanc’s role in the overall scheme was limited.
Leblanc also spoke, apologizing for his actions leading to the criminal case against him. He said he offered his “deepest condolences” to those who lost money in the scheme.
“I was young and immature at the time,” he told Sessions, adding, “I do feel terrible about this situation.”
Vermont’s attorney general urges people who may be targeted by the scam to take the following precautions:
- Resist the urge to act immediately.
- Write down the phone number of the caller and hang up the phone.
- If the caller references a family member, call that family member or another person who can verify their whereabouts and well-being.
- Create an uncommon family codeword, phrase, or pin number that they agree to keep private to use during emergencies for verification.
- Verify information the caller provides by reaching out to a trusted contact or the Consumer Assistance Program at 800-649-2424.
The Vermont Attorney General’s Office reports that “relationship imposter scams” — which include the “grandparent scam” — ranked fifth on its top 10 list of reported scams to the attorney general’s Consumer Assistance Program in 2024.
