FREDERIC SERRE
The 1510 West
Nearly a month after more than 100 police officers raided a residence on a quiet street in Dollard des Ormeaux in connection with an alleged drug-smuggling operation last month, one of the leading figures nabbed during the raid is being held by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in connection to a completely different matter.
The Mounties are working with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to send the suspect, Dollard resident Jonathan Massouras, back to the U.S. to face charges connected to an illegal telemarketing scam that bilked seniors of an estimated $1 million.
Massouras, 33, who has been detained since the May 16 raid on a residence on Tecumseh Rd. by heavily armed officers with the RCMP and the Montreal Police Department, is wanted in the U.S. in connection with a case where he and four other men from the West Island were indicted in California in 2020 for their alleged participation in a telemarketing scam targeting seniors in the U.S., primarily in the state of California.
According to Charles Poirier of the RCMP, the raid in Dollard was connected to the sale and distribution of Ketamine and was part of a police operation that began last February when the RCMP’s C division teamed up with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. While no charges have yet been laid in the May 16 raid against seven individuals, Poirier said the police operation was part of a wider, continuing investigation involving eight residential properties – in Dorval, Laval and Brampton, Ont. – that were also searched.
While Massouras was not charged in connection with the raid, police officers discovered he was wanted by the FBI. He was arraigned a few hours after his arrest, the RCMP said in a statement issued last week.
Massourais was among five West Island men indicted in December 2020 on federal fraud charges in the U.S. The accused were alleged to have run a million-dollar telemarketing scam that deceived victims – many of them elderly southern California residents – into paying off non-existent debts they purportedly owed for magazine subscriptions.
The men were charged with conspiracy and wire fraud. Those charged were: Ahmad Eraif, 35, of Dollard; his brother Mohamed Eraif, 37, of Pierrefonds; Jonathan Massouras, 30, of Dollard; William Gampel, 29, of Dollard; and his brother, Kevin Gampel, 26, also of Dollard.
The indictment alleges that, from 2013 to September 2015, the defendants, from locations in Montreal and Toronto, contacted victims throughout the United States, claiming to be calling from companies such as “Magazine Readers,” “Global Readers” and “American Reader Services.” During these telephone calls, the defendants allegedly claimed that the victims – many of whom were elderly – owed money for magazine subscriptions.
Participants in the scheme allegedly told victims that if they paid the amount “owed” their purported debts would be satisfied and they would receive no future phone calls. However, victims’ personal information was collected and stored for the purposes of charging the victims’ financial accounts and for making repeated calls demanding payments, according to the indictment.