United States of America v. Oscar Manuel Castanos Garcia

Boston, Massachusetts, criminal defendant lawyer represented the Defendant charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1349 and money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.c. 1956.

Reported by Kent Morlan

Edward Jose Puello Garcia, 45, engaged in a conspiracy to commit fail fraud and wire fraud and laundered the money produced by the wire and mail fraud. The defendant and others, led by Castanos Garcia, ran a sophisticated “call center” operation in the Dominican Republic that tricked hundreds of elderly victims in the United States into believing that their grandchildren and other close family members were in trouble and needed money. Once the defendants obtained the money, they laundered their illicit proceeds back to the Dominican Republic.

Castanos Garcia oversaw call centers in the Dominican Republic, where he employed co-conspirators who spoke English and carried out what are commonly known as “grandparent scams.” These scams would begin with an “Opener” employee, who would call victims and pretend to be a grandchild who was in an accident. Then, a “Closer” would allegedly follow up with another call, pretending to be the grandchild’s attorney, asking for a sum of money to pay for the grandchild’s attorney’s fees. Castanos Garcia ran these call center locations with the help of several managers, including Cruz Rodriguez and Puello Garcia, who supervised, instructed and paid the employees.

Callers for Castanos Garcia’s call centers would instruct elderly victims to provide cash to “runners” in the United States, including Joel Francisco Mathilda Leon. Most often, the callers would instruct victims to give the packages with cash to rideshare drivers who were ordered to the victim’s house by a runner. Runners would then have the unsuspecting rideshare drivers deliver the packages to the runners at nearby locations. In some cases, the callers would direct the victims to ship packages of cash to specified addresses via mail or commercial carriers.

Often times, the call center would call victims again and ask for additional funds for their grandchildren, sometimes two or three additional times. For example, callers would claim that there had been a “mix up” or that a “pregnant women’s baby was lost in the crash.”

At times, co-conspirators would order unwitting rideshare drivers to drive the elderly victims to the bank to withdraw additional funds.

Castanos Garcia directed the runners to deposit the victims’ money into bank accounts or deliver it to co-conspirators. The operators of the scheme relied on money launderers in the United States and the Dominican Republic, including Nuñez Nuñez, to transmit proceeds from victims in the United States to Castanos Garcia and others in the Dominican Republic. As alleged in the indictment, Nuñez Nuñez provided call center operators with access to bank accounts in the names of purported businesses, into which runners deposited scam proceeds. He also arranged for the runners to hand-deliver cash from victims to individuals in New York and elsewhere. Nuñez Nuñez then provided cash to the call center operators in the Dominican Republic.

ule 11 Hearing as to Oscar Manuel Castanos Garcia held on 7/9/2026. The parties appear in person. The interpreter is sworn in. There is no plea agreement in this case. The defendant is placed under oath. The Court conducts colloquy with Defendant. The Court reviews the maximum penalties, sentencing guidelines. The government states the elements of the offense and factual basis for the plea. Plea entered by Oscar Manuel Castanos Garcia (1) Guilty Count 1s, 2s. The Court accepts the plea and the defendant is now judged guilty. Sentencing set for 10/14/2026 10:00 AM in Courtroom 13 (In person only) before District Judge Leo T. Sorokin. The government objects to Probation's confidential recommendation. The defendant is remanded into the custody of the Marshals. The Government to contact the Court if they would like to schedule a hearing with victims of the offense prior to sentencing.