3 indicted in scam of elderly

RALEIGH -- Federal officers in Raleigh have indicted three Canadian men in a fraud scheme against older people that includes a devious new wrinkle -- using previous victims as unwitting money launderers in telemarketing scams against other seniors.

Canadians Clayton Atkinson, Jamaal McKenzie and David Stewart -- no ages or addresses were given, and all had aliases -- face a 34-count indictment charging them with using mail, wire and other methods to move stolen money and property.

A joint probe last year by the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found that about $900,000 was moved through Raleigh and other locations to the defendants in the Montreal area, an indictment handed down in March says.

"Between about December of 2004 and March of 2005, Atkinson defrauded an elderly resident of Raleigh ... causing a loss of approximately $80,000 to the victim," FBI agent Joan Fleming said in an affidavit.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Raleigh would not identify the victim and did not know the status of any extradition effort.

Experts in senior fraud have said that scam artists typically find new, more sophisticated methods to target victims and cover their tracks as law officers bolster their efforts to catch them.

As many as 5 million older Americans fall victim to financial abuse annually, the federal Securities and Exchange Commission says.

According to the indictments filed in U.S. District Court in Raleigh, the suspects first tricked vulnerable older people into believing they had won a lottery prize of up to $15 million. The victims were told they first had to pay taxes or other fees to collect their "winnings" -- a common tactic.

But the twist came when the original victim was told to send cash or a check to an address that turned out to be a second victim. The second person had previously been defrauded by the scam artists but was told he or she could get a "loan" to use as a final payment before getting the jackpot.

The second victim was allowed to keep part of the money -- some mailings held as much as $20,000 -- before shipping it to a Canadian drop site, where it was funneled to the scam artists.

Using telephone taps and package tracing, law enforcement found the Canadian apartment of Atkinson, known to the suspect as "Howard Clark," Fleming's affidavit says.

The Mounties waited outside, then called the cell phone.

"The RCMP were able to hear 'Howard Clark' answer the call and speak to an RCMP officer posing as a relative of the Raleigh victim," Fleming said in the document. The Mounties then burst into the apartment and arrested "Clark," who was identified as Atkinson.