A New York man was arraigned at U.S. District Court in Louisville on Monday after he was indicted for his role in a “Grandparents Scam” that had victims across the country, including one in Meade County where a person lost tens of thousands of dollars.
According to court documents, Juan Carlos Arcena Cabrera, 28, of Yonkers, New York, conspired with others to trick seniors into sending cash payments under the false pretense that a grandchild or loved one had been in a car accident or was facing legal trouble. Scam callers would reach out to victims repeatedly, claiming more money was needed to cover additional emergency expenses.
As part of this conspiracy, Cabrera, who was indicted on a charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud in October, allegedly posed as the grandson of the Kentucky victim and attempted to pick up a parcel full of cash that the victim had shipped from Kentucky to a FedEx store in New York.
If convicted, Cabrera faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. There is no parole in the federal system. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case was investigated and prosecuted as part of the National Elder Justice Task Force and the Kentucky Elder Justice Task Force. The Department of Justice’s mission of its Elder Justice Initiative is to support and coordinate the Department’s enforcement and programmatic efforts to combat elder abuse, neglect and financial fraud and scams that target our nation’s older adults.
In response to the growing need and targeting areas of greatest concern, the Department of Justice initially established 10 task forces made up of 11 federal districts to combat a variety of elder abuse, including elder financial exploitation. Kentucky’s federal districts make up two of the 11 districts under the Initiative. Kentucky’s task force is comprised of investigators, prosecutors, and others at the local, state, and federal level with a common objective of protecting seniors across Kentucky.
