Prosecutors say a man has been sentenced in Los Angeles to a year in federal prison for his role in a scheme to dupe people into believing their grandchildren or other relatives were in trouble in foreign countries and needed money right away.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 48-year-old Pascal Gaudreault pleaded guilty in March to one count of wire fraud.
Investigators say Gaudreault and his co-defendants contacted victims throughout Southern California and falsely told them their relatives needed money immediately to fix a car or bail out of jail or pay hospital bills.
The victims made wire transfers ranging from $1,000 to nearly $3,000. Some victims sent money multiple times.
Another defendant was sentenced in 2014 to five years in federal prison for orchestrating the scam.
Associated Press
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 14, 2019. Read the original PDF.