Thursday, June 17, 2010

Federal Charges Against Man Accused of Defrauding His Grandparents

A New York man was charged in federal court with defrauding his elderly grandparent in Greenfield of more than $250,000.

Michael Ostrowski, 41, of East Patchogue, N.Y., was charged in an indictment with conspiracy to commit mail fraud; mail fraud; interstate transportation of stolen property; receipt, possession, concealment and disposition of stolen property that crossed a state boundary; engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from unlawful activity; and failure to file an income tax return, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Boston office of the Internal Revenue Service.

The indictment alleges that Ostrowski's grandparent lived in Greenfield until June 2006. After that, the grandparent, who was identified in a Department of Justice press release only as S.O., lived primarily in hospitals or nursing homes in Massachusetts.

According to the press release, Ostrowski faces the following maximum penalties: five years imprisonment on the conspiracy charge; 20 years imprisonment on the mail fraud charges; 10 years imprisonment on the stolen property charges and the monetary transaction charge; and one year imprisonment on the tax charge. There would also be hefty fines for each conviction.

Full Article and Source:
Officials: Grandparents Defrauded

4 comments:

Betty said...

Mail fraud and/or wire fraud will bring in the feds every time!

Anonymous said...

Mail fraud or wire fraud when it's family, but not when it's professional guardians.

How about extortion ....... families seem easier targets to prosecute .....

Steve said...

Anonymous 2, I think wire fraud and mail fraud work with the professional guardians, too. I mean those who get caught.

Anonymous said...

Betty & Steve... I hope you're right because we've got one "professional guardian" hanging by a thread and will do our best to see her prosecuted and then we'll put her on the front page to show all!