A Chilean man accused of defrauding Islanders in a so-called “grandparent scam” is facing nearly a dozen more charges in New Brunswick.
Luis Luciano David Cortez has been in jail since August on five charges of fraud. Now, he is facing another 10 fraud-related charges that have been transferred from Campbellton and one additional charge from Miramichi, N.B.
Provincial court Judge Jeff Lantz confirmed Monday that those charges have been transferred to P.E.I.
Cortez’s lawyer, Marc-Antoine Rock, appeared in court by phone and asked for a delay so he could review the new charges against his client. Lantz agreed.
The case has been adjourned until Feb. 7, and Cortez has agreed to stay in custody until that time.
Rock has asked the courts for an interpreter since Cortez’s first language is Spanish.
‘Pawns in a bigger scheme’
Cortez’s partner has already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to four months in jail for her role in the scheme.
The court heard during Genesis Carvajal Tapia’s sentencing that the couple had arrived in Canada, flying into Montreal. From there they travelled to New Brunswick before renting a car and crossing the Confederation Bridge to P.E.I.
An agreed statement of facts said the victims got a phone call from someone — neither Tapia nor Cortez — saying their grandchild was in legal trouble and needed to be bailed out of jail.
The caller would then ask for cash to make that happen, and said another person would come to the victim’s home to collect the money.
Charlottetown police arrested Cortez when a woman grew suspicious and phoned her grandson to check on him. They then reported the scam to police, who nabbed Cortez as he approached the grandmother’s home.
At Tapia’s sentencing, the Crown prosecutor said the couple seemed to be “pawns in a bigger scheme” and that the Canada Border Services Agency was aware of similar scams.
