3 Panama residents indicted in $1.5 million grandparent scheme

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Three Panama residents were indicted in connection with a grandparent scheme that authorities said cost victims in Pittsburgh and across the country $1.5 million. 

The Department of Justice said Stefano Zanetti, Samuel David Ferrer Avila and Cesar Javier Chourio Morante appeared in federal court in Pittsburgh on Wednesday after a grand federal jury indicted them on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The three are accused of orchestrating and executing what prosecutors call a "sophisticated nationwide scheme" that targeted older people, causing $1.5 million in losses to victims in Pittsburgh and states like Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, New Hampshire, New York, and Tennessee.

The Department of Justice said members of the conspiracy would contact a victim and claim that their family member, usually a grandchild, had been arrested and needed money for bail. The victims were told to withdraw cash and give it to a "courier" who would come to their home, the DOJ said. 

From Panama, officials said the defendants directed the couriers and "safehouses," who were tasked with getting the money and transferring it.

The indictments were returned Dec. 6 and unsealed Aug. 21 after all three were arrested, the Department of Justice said. 

Multiple law enforcement agencies investigated the case, including the Department of Homeland Security Investigations and the Pennsylvania State Police.