Defendants accused of defrauding dozens of elderly victims out of millions of dollars
Read details from Operation Save our Seniors
ROCHESTER, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that an effort known as Save our Seniors, which targets defendants who prey on and defraud senior citizens, has resulted in the arrest of eight defendants in seven different criminal complaints. The defendants are responsible for over $11,053,989 in actual and attempted losses, impacting over 139 victims, many here in the Western District of New York (WDNY). Named in the seven criminal complaints are:
Dhruv Patel, 34, of Franklin Park, NJ, is charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, and transportation of stolen money in interstate commerce and conspiracy to transport stolen money in interstate commerce, which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. According to the complaint against Patel, he was caught attempting to pick up $567,000 worth of gold bars from an elderly woman in the WDNY, who fell victim to a customer support scam. Just weeks before, he was arrested in the Northern District of New York while trying to pick up $48,000 from another elderly victim, who also fell victim to a customer support scam. Patel also allegedly acted as a middleman between fraudsters and couriers, arranging for pickups to take place around the country. Patel is accused of defrauding at least 12 victims out of more than $9,100,000. Patel is currently serving a sentence of probation for a state fraud conviction.
Stephen Odiboh, 53, of Stone Mountain, GA, is charged with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. According to the complaint against Odiboh, he received money from an elderly woman in the WDNY who fell victim to a romance scam. The victim lost over $175,000, with Odiboh personally receiving $70,000. Odiboh then laundered that money. He was previously convicted of money laundering in the Southern District of New York was on supervised release when he laundered the victim’s money. Odiboh was also previously convicted of Forgery in the third degree in Gwinett County Superior Court, Gwinett, Georgia. He is accused of victimizing individuals, with losses and attempted losses totaling $356,525.
Renee Thompson, 52, of North Lauderdale, FL, is charged with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carry which carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. According to the complaint against Thompson, she created 17 counterfeit checks totaling $193,167 from a company in the WDNY, deposited them into her own checking account, and laundered the funds. The investigation revealed that she also deposited approximately $7,000 in counterfeit checks from a second company. Thompson was issued a “money mule letter,” which warns a person that they are laundering fraudulent proceeds through their accounts and can be charged with a crime if they do not stop. Despite receiving that warning, Thompson continued to launder money through her bank account, with losses and attempted losses totaling $234,485.22. She was previously convicted of bank embezzlement in the Southern District of Florida.
Christopher Hernandez, 29, of North Bergen, is charged with possession and transfer of fraudulent identification documents and conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, computer fraud and conspiracy to commit computer fraud, and money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carry a mandatory minimum penalty of two years in prison and a maximum of 15 years. According to the complaint against Hernandez, he was part of a conspiracy that hacked into the retirement account of a victim located in the WDNY and stole $175,000 from her, which he then deposited into his own bank account and dispersed the proceeds. The investigation also discovered that Hernandez is manufacturing and selling identification documents and bank cards using stolen personally identifiable information. One of the victims whose name and information was used to create a fake license and bank card resides in the WDNY. Hernandez is accused of losses and attempted losses totaling $265,800.89. Hernandez has an extensive criminal history that includes convictions in City of Mary’s, Pennsylvania, for Felony Access Device Fraud and Felony Identity Theft; Bronx County Supreme Court for Attempted Possession of a Forged Instrument-2nd Degree; Credit Card Crime-CR Card Theft-4th Degree in Hudson County Superior Court; and Hudson County, New Jersey, for Aggravated Assault-Knowingly Pointing a Firearm-4th Degree.
Touhedul Tuhin, 24, and Iftekhar Latif Nieon, 23, both of Kent, OH, are charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. According to the complaint against Tuhin and Nieon, they collected $40,000 from an elderly resident in the WDNY, who fell victim to a scam in which the perpetrators posed as Federal Trade Commission (FTC) agents; $38,000 from an 81-year-old resident of the WDNY, who fell victim to a scam in which the perpetrators posed as tech support (tech support scam); $19,500 from an elderly victim in the WDNY who fell victim to a tech support scam; and $28,000 from an elderly resident of the WDNY who fell victim to a tech support scam. The defendants, who are both in the United States on student visas, are accused of taking money from several other elderly victims in other jurisdictions including $15,000 from an elderly victim in Ohio. Tuhin and Nieon are accused of losses and attempted losses totaling $276,000.
Elias Circle, 23, of Rossford, OH, is charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. According to the complaint against Circle, he and his co-conspirators sent email solicitations to elderly victims and falsely represented that they were writing on behalf of a government agency that was responsible for distributing restitution to victims. Between 2017 and 2024, Circle fraudulently induced an elderly resident of the WDNY to send him payments totaling approximately $600,000.
Estermarie Jones, 35, of Rochester, NY, is charged with conspiracy, altering a postal money order, identification document fraud, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud and conspiracy to commit access device fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carry mandatory minimum penalty of two years in prison and a maximum of 30 years in prison. According to the complaint against Jones, she obtained approximately 50 $1.00 Postal Money Orders, altered them to increase their value to $1,000, and then deposited (or attempted to deposit) them. In addition, she used the names and other personally identifiable information of eight other victims to create fraudulent driver’s licenses with his own photograph, which he then used to open bank accounts, register two businesses with the Monroe County Clerk’s Office, fraudulently endorse checks, register for and pay utilities for her residence, and withdraw money from a victim bank account. Jones allegedly possessed approximately 31 fraudulent or stolen identification cards, four fraudulent or stolen Social Security cards, and 65 fraudulent or stolen bank cards. Jones is accused of losses and attempted losses totaling $190,032.
“These cases should send a loud and clear message that if you prey on the senior citizens of our community, no matter where you are in the country, we will identify, arrest and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” stated U.S. Attorney DiGiacomo. “Too often, many seniors fall victim to these fraudsters, who don’t think twice about taking advantage of our parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles. It’s important that we all consistently remind the seniors in our lives to reach out to a loved one or friend if they think they could be the victim of a scam.”
Save our Seniors (SOS) in a working group founded in April 2025. It’s comprised of members of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, Homeland Security Investigations, Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, Secret Service, New York State Police, the Monroe County Sherriff’s Office, the Rochester Police Department, the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, and Lifespan of Greater Rochester Inc.
The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan K. McGuire. Additional assistance provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida, the Northern District of Georgia, the District of New Jersey, and the Northern District of Ohio.
If you or someone you know is asked to do any of these things mentioned in the above case, you are dealing with a fraudster, and you should do the following immediately:
- Do not send any more money
- Save copies of your communications, receipts, bank records, etc.
- Call your local police department or sheriff’s office, the New York State Police, or the FBI
- Submit a complaint online at IC3.gov
In addition, an individual employed by the federal government will never:
- Tell you to withdraw any of your money from your bank accounts.
- Ask you to convert your money to gold bars or some other form of currency.
- Come to your house or meet you at a predetermined location and take money from you.
- Ask you to wire money to an account.
- Ask you to send money via CashApp, Zelle, Apple Pay, or any other peer-to-peer platform.
- Ask you to send cryptocurrency.
- Ask you to buy gift cards and send them (either by mailing the physical cards or by scratching them off and sending pictures of the redemption information).
- Tell you they need remote access to your computer or any of your accounts.
- Ask you for your social security number, bank account information, or any other sensitive information over phone or email.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
