'Granny Scammer' Gets Five Years for Fraud

A Canadian man was sentenced to five years in federal prison for orchestrating a scheme to dupe Southland grandparents into believing their grandchildren or other relatives were in danger in foreign countries and immediately required money, according to court papers released today.

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Pascal Goyer, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner in a Monday hearing that was closed to the public. He pleaded guilty last year to one count of wire fraud.

Goyer and his co-defendants contacted grandparents throughout the Southland and falsely told them that money needed to be sent to resolve a relative’s purported problem, such as a car accident, in which bail money or repair expenses were immediately needed.

The defendants -- who had no actual association with the relatives -- instructed the grandparents to use wire transfer services to send money that did not end up going to help their grandchildren or other relatives, according to the 2012 indictment.

In some cases, the victims were contacted again to send additional money to fully resolve their relative’s supposed problem, federal prosecutors said.

Wire transfers were sent from victims in six California cities, including Burbank, Canyon Country, Tarzana and Irvine. The transfers involved amounts ranging from $1,000 to nearly $3,000, according to court papers.

Investigators determined that the grandparents were identified through mass-produced lead lists that targeted a specific victim demographic.

Four co-defendants remain in Canada and authorities are seeking their extradition to the United States, prosecutors said.

--City News Service

PHOTO Patch file photo.