Lise Rossopoulos, a Kew Gardens Hills woman, has been charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property after allegedly scamming senior citizens across the nation, coaxing them out of more than half a million dollars.
Rossopoulos found herself in court facing serious charges after being accused of involvement in a devious elder fraud scheme, the victims, senior citizens duped by phone calls from a co-conspirator feigning government authority who schemed them into sending substantial amounts of money to banks both in Queens and upstate New York, and now if convicted, she faces five to 15 years in prison, Katz's office reported. “According to the charges, this defendant bilked senior citizens out of their hard-earned savings. No one should be embarrassed if they find themselves at the receiving end of scams or frauds. If you suspect that you have fallen victim to a scam, please contact our Frauds Bureau at [email protected] or by calling 718-286-6673,” DA Katz stated in a press release.
The alleged scheme unfolded with a sinister call to a 92-year-old Hawaii resident from a fake Federal Trade Commission official who scared her into believing her identity was compromised, prompting her to wire $446,000 to Rossopoulos' bank account. Another victim, an 83-year-old from Kentucky, fell for a similar ploy after a fraudulent "Mike from Amazon" call about unmade purchases led to further instructions by another fake government agent, resulting in him wiring $101,980 to another account controlled by Rossopoulos.
An investigation spearheaded by the Queens District Attorney's Office in collaboration with Homeland Security Investigations New York El Dorado Task Force Economic Crimes Group and the New York State Department of Financial Services exposed the depth of Rossopoulos's alleged involvement as she was the only authorized signatory on the accounts that sucked up the victims' funds as soon as they landed. Assistant District Attorney Carolynn Fitzgerald of the Elder Fraud Unit heads the prosecution, as detailed by the same press release.
