BANGOR — A second Canadian man has pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with an international telephone scam.
Twenty-two-year-old Michael Giuffrida pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to transportation of stolen property and possession of stolen property in interstate commerce. His co-defendant, 21-year-old Nour-El-Dean Mouneimneh, pleaded guilty to the same charges March 1.
The Bangor Daily News reported that by pleading guilty, the men admitted to being part of scheme that tricked people in Maine and other states into wiring money to different locations in the U.S.
Court documents say the men picked up money orders in Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio, but denied making the phone calls soliciting money.
According to the Daily News, victims include a Presque Isle woman and her son who sent a total of $56,000 in Western Union money orders last year to Ohio thinking they were aiding a relative.
The woman told agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that she had received a phone call from a man who identified himself as a police sergeant in New York who said her grandson had been in an accident and was in trouble in Cincinnati and needed money. The grandson, identified in the affidavit by the initials “W.S.,” left Portland about six years ago for Ohio and the grandmother had no contact information for him.
The scam was discovered when agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection pulled in behind the duo to warn them about a flat tir, the Daily News reported.
After the men gave conflicting information, the agents found about $90,000 in cash and $10,500 in traveler’s checks in their spare tire well.
Sentencing dates have not been scheduled.
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