Fake Bail Bondsman With "Case Number" Receipts: Canadian Courier in Grandparent Call Scheme Gets 50 Months in Illinois

The sentence

On July 11, 2024, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of Illinois, part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), announced that Sebastian Chelemen, 38, a Canadian national, was sentenced that day to 50 months in prison and two years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was ordered to pay $460,350 in restitution. Chelemen pleaded guilty on February 6, 2024.

How the scheme worked

According to what the government established at sentencing, as described by DOJ:

• From April 2023 to June 2023, co-conspirators operating in Canada called elderly people across the United States, pretending to be young loved ones who had been arrested and needed money for bond or a lawyer.
• Once a victim agreed to pay, Chelemen, acting as a bail bondsman or courier, came to the victim's address to collect.
• He gave victims a receipt showing a "case number," the amount paid and the false name he used.
• Chelemen personally collected more than $380,000 from victims in multiple states. Co-conspirators received another $78,000 from victims who mailed money.
• The conspiracy tried to get at least another $290,000.

The arrest

The Sangamon County Sheriff's Office arrested Chelemen on June 13, 2023. He had more than $138,000 in cash, which he acknowledged he had recently received from numerous victims in the Central District of Illinois. He was ordered detained on June 26, 2023.

At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough found him responsible for more than $750,000 in actual and attempted loss, found that he victimized vulnerable individuals, and found the scheme was sophisticated and mostly carried out outside the United States.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Springfield Field Office, the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office and the Springfield Police Department investigated, with help from law enforcement in Virginia, Ohio, New York and Wisconsin.

The bottom line:

A Canadian courier who collected cash at victims' homes after cross-border grandparent calls, using fake bail receipts, was sentenced to 50 months and ordered to pay $460,350.

Key takeaways

1. The calls came from Canada, with callers posing as arrested young relatives.
2. Bond and lawyer fees were the pretext.
3. Paper receipts with "case numbers" were used at the door.
4. The courier carried $138,000 in cash when arrested.
5. The court found the scheme sophisticated, with most of it run outside the United States.