Canadian man enters guilty plea in ‘grandma scam’ case

Sentencing is set for April

A Canadian man admitted Tuesday that he laundered more than $800,000 that came froma hoax that tricked caring people — mostly grandparents — into sending money to help young relatives they thoughtwere in distress.

Stephan Moskwyn, 33, pleaded guilty to a moneylaundering charge in federal court in Miami.

Authorities said he was the ringleader of a scheme to launder money obtained by a Canadian calling center that targeted elderly U.S. residents since 2014.

Workers at the call center phoned potential victims in the U.S. and acted like they were relatives, usually grandchildren, who were in trouble and urgently needed money sent to them, according to agents from Homeland Se- curity Investigations.

Victims who were deceived sent money orders thatwere cashed inthe Dominican Republic, Chile and in other countries, investigators said. Other victimswere told to send “virtual money orders” or Moneypaks that were converted into the virtual currency, bitcoin, according to court records.

Moskwyn used complicated transactions, involving the money orders and pre-paid debit cards in the U.S., to convert some of the virtual money orders into bitcoin, according to court records.

Moskwyn met with witnesses, who were secretly cooperating with the federal investigation, during visits he made to Broward and Miami-Dade counties last year.

In one conversation recorded in February 2015, Moskwyn said he knew the money came from fraudulent activity and a “grandma scam.”