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New allocutions push back sentencing in elderly phone scam case

August 17, 2017 By Paul Frangipane Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Hani Kabbara used fraudulent prepaid debit cards as part of his scheme to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from older victims. AP Photo Patrick Semansky, File
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The sentencing of a Canadian man who defrauded hundreds of thousands of dollars from older victims in a phone scam was pushed back at Brooklyn’s federal court Thursday after federal prosecutors surfaced more allocutions.

Online conversations showed Hani Kabbara bragging about owning a Dominican Republic-based call center that was used in the scheme, clashing with his plea that he only operated as a middle-man.

Kabbara pleaded guilty on April 6 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for participating in a two-year scheme that preyed on older victims.

In some cases, victims were told their grandchildren were in prison and they needed to send money for their freedom.

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“I can’t proceed with this sentencing as is,” Judge Margo Brodie said when apologizing to Kabbara’s family that came from Montreal and Dubai for the sentencing.

Kabbara’s attorney, Richard Greenberg said Kabbara denies owning the call center and that he was simply boasting, or “puffing,” to look like a boss online.

Brodie planned a two-year prison sentence for Kabbara but the term could be longer if he is caught having played a larger role in the scheme.

The plot centered around vouchers called MoneyPaks that were used to reload fraudulent prepaid debit cards. The debit cards were then cashed out and the money was sent to Canada, according to court documents.

A crew of workers in the metro area would withdraw the funds from the cards, get the cash together and send it north.

In one instance, $250,000 was wired to an individual at a coffee shop in New York City.

After saying there was no evidence of the newly raised allocutions, Greenberg said he was considering dropping out of the case.

“I didn’t sign up for this,” he said.

Kabbara is set to appear back in court on Sept. 28 for a hearing.


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