On Monday, the canadian was sentenced to 3 years and 5 months in Federal prison for deceiving an elderly California residents, vymanivaya money through phone fraud. He and his accomplices pretended to be relatives of the victims, got into trouble when travelling abroad, he told police.
Clifford Mr. Kirstein (29) from Montreal will pay $56258 damages 8 known victims. This decision was made by the court in Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Department of justice.
He was extradited from Canada to the US last year. He pleaded guilty in one case of telephone fraud in November, said the representative of the DOJ Tom Mrozek. The name of the canadian was associated initially with 25 cases of fraud which he allegedly committed together with other 4 accused.
«Clifford admitted in court that he and his accomplices were associated with older victims from America on the phone and convinced the victims to send them money, pretending to be a grandchild or another relative who got in trouble in another country. Scared, the victim transferred money to help their relatives,» said Mrozek.
In some cases, the scammers contacted the victims several times, perezvanivaya to ask for more money for the same purpose – to help a grandchild or relative.
Canada issued a warrant to search the apartment in Montreal, where police found a lot of cash, a machine for counting money and room for telephone marketing. The bathroom was equipped as an office, and the premises were also lists of potential victims, subscriber cards and prepaid disposable phones.
The other 3 suspects, also from Montreal, pleaded guilty to the charges and was convicted of fraud. The fifth defendant, 31-year-old Peter Iacino from Canada wanted by the police.
Prosecutors said that if the «victim refused to cooperate, they received threats. Kirsten and his co-conspirators not only stole money from the victims, but intimidated them and damaged their self-confidence».
