Seven additional people from the Montreal area have been arrested for their alleged roles in a massive, multi-million-dollar grandparent scam targeting American seniors across dozens of states.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont announced the new charges on Friday.
The seven Quebecers are accused of defrauding several elderly victims across Vermont and more than 40 others states.
A grand jury indicted them last November and police arrested them on Thursday, which is when the indictment was unsealed.
The seven accused are:
- Evangelos Lohaitis (a.k.a. “Bucky”), 36, of Saint-Eustache, Que.
- Mitchell Burnett-Guarna (a.k.a. “Juice”), 39, of Dorval, Que.
- Kyle Lesser (a.k.a. “Brock”), 34, of Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Que.
- Luca Santalucia (a.k.a. “Rocco”), 27, of Montreal, Que.
- Glen Crossley (a.k.a. “Buju”), 56, of Kirkland, Que.
- Cody Jodouin-King (a.k.a. “Lids”), 28, of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.
- Panagiota Fountotos (a.k.a. “Nike”), 29, of Laval, Que.
Just over a year ago, U.S. authorities charged 25 Canadians, mostly from the Montreal area, in relation to the scam that stole more than $21 million from victims in Vermont and 40 other states.
- READ MORE: 25 Canadians charged in ‘elaborate’ grandparents scam that defrauded American seniors of $21M
The suspects allegedly operated a sophisticated phone operation from a network of call centres in Pointe-Claire and Vaudreuil-Dorion, west of downtown Montreal, and posed as the victims’ relatives during phone calls in urgent legal trouble and in need of quick bail money.
Others would pose as fake lawyers who would tell the elderly victims that there was a “gag order” in place preventing them from telling anyone about the emergency situation.
“Elderly victims were convinced to provide bail money to an individual falsely posing as a bail bondsman, who would come to the elderly victim’s home to collect the money,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement Friday.
“This money was later transmitted to Canada following cash deliveries and financial transactions, sometimes involving cryptocurrency, which, the indictment alleges, obscured the source of the money and the identities of defendants.”
The accused face up to 20 years in prison if they are convicted.
List of 25 Canadians charged in March 2025:
- Gareth West, 38, of Burlington, Ont.
- Usman Khalid, 36, of Les Coteaux, Que.
- Andrew Tatto, 43, of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Que.
- Stephan Moskwyn, 42, of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Que.
- Ricky Ylimaki, 31, of Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Que.
- Richard Frischman, 31, of Montreal, Que.
- Adam Lawrence, 41, of LaSalle, Que.
- Michael Filion, 45, of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Que.
- Jimmy Ylimaki, 35, of Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Que.
- Nicolas Gonzalez, 27, of Kirkland, Que.
- Ryan Melanson, 27, of Montreal, Que.
- Joy Kalafatidis, 31, of Pointe-Claire, Que.
- David Arcobelli, 36, of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Que.
- Jonathan Massouras, 35, of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que.
- Nicholas Shiomi, 42, of Montreal, Que.
- Antonio Iannacci, 33, of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Que.
- Jonathan Ouellet, 29, of Saint-Eustache, Que.
- Kassey-Lee Lankford, 28, of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.
- Sara Burns, 31, of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que.
- Justin Polenz, 34, of Montreal, Que.
- Ryan Thibert, 37, of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.
- Michael Farella, 29, of Sainte-Geneviève, Que.
- Sebastian Guenole, 30, of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Que.
- Ryan Bridgman, 37, of Deux-Montagnes, Que.
- Stephanie-Marie Samaras, 29, of Laval, Que.
Nine other people were previously charged in relation to the investigation:
- Otmane Khalladi, 32, of Miami, FL
- Jean Richard Audate, 39, of New York, NY
- Philippe Alvarez, 34, of Montreal, Que.
- Paul Conneh, 37, of Guangzhou, China
- Dave Leblanc, 37, of Greenacres, FL
