HARRISON – Police cracked a grandma scam that involved an elderly female victim who was bilked out of $300,000.
Harrison Police in conjunction with the Westchester County District Attorney’s Organized Crime Bureau, Bergen County, New Jersey District Attorney’s Office and Missouri City, Texas Police, investigated the case for three months.
Arrested on grand larceny charges were Sylvester Odiase, 34, of Edgewater, NJ; Rachell Odiase, 54, of the Bronx; Cecilia Rivera, 32, of Brooklyn; Brittany Yearling, 32, of Missouri City, Texas; and Marquelle Collins, 28, of Bound Brook, NJ.
Harrison Police began the investigation after receiving a complaint from the victim who was duped into depositing over $300,000 into a number of bank accounts after receiving a call from a police impersonator. The call, who identified himself as a police sergeant, advised the victim that her grandson was incarcerated and directed her to deposit the money into their accounts for the release of her grandchild.
Harrison Police investigators implemented electronic and physical surveillance to track down the suspects, which led them throughout the tri-state area and the state of Texas, where arrests were made.
Search warrants were executed in the Bronx and New Jersey where evidence of the crimes was seized.
The scam is believed to have originated in Canada and several of the arrested suspects are originally from Nigeria, which is known as a hotbed for phone and Internet scams.
Residents have been cautioned not to fall victim to this type of scam and to contact police if they receive a suspicious call from anyone requesting money to be wired or deposited into an unknown bank account.
SUNY Orange budget up just over one percent
May 20, 2024
