The Justice Department has filed a civil complaint against a Great Neck man accusing him of facilitating fraudulent robocalls that bilked the elderly and other victims across the nation.
The complaint named Jon Kahen of Great Neck and several companies that he owns and operates, and sought a temporary restraining order to halt the allegedly unlawful robocall traffic.
The complaint filed on Jan. 28 in federal District Court in Brooklyn was part of an action against robocalls that also focused on two individuals from Arizona and their telecommunication companies.
The complaint said that the domestic telecommunication companies were used as “gateway carriers” to allow foreign robocalls to infiltrate the domestic telephone system. The department said the companies ignored repeated red flags and warnings about the fraudulent activity of the calls they carried.
It stated that Kahen is the owner and operator of Global Voicecom Inc; Global Telecommunication Services Inc. and KAT Telecom Inc., also known as IP Dish, which officials claim he runs out of his Great Neck home.
The Department of Justice said many of the robocalls originate and are conducted in foreign countries such as India. According to the complaint, the companies associated with Kahen used voice-over-internet protocol or VoIP carriers, which allow users to place phone calls over a broadband internet connection.
These foreign robocalls impersonate government investigators, make false claims and leave alarming messages for Americans. The messages can range from threats of deportation, fraudulent credit card activity or other false claims that can result in the victim paying large sums of money, according to the department.
Efforts to reach Kahen, his attorney and representatives from the associated companies were unavailing.
According to the complaint, Kahen and the companies “used the U.S. telephone system to engage in predatory wire fraud schemes that victimize individuals throughout the United States, including individuals within the Eastern District of New York and significant numbers of elderly and vulnerable victims.”
“Robocalls are an annoyance to many Americans, and those that are fraudulent and predatory are a serious problem, often causing devastating financial harm to the elderly and vulnerable members of our society,” said Jody Hunt, assistant attorney general for the Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will pursue to the fullest extent of the law individuals in the United States who knowingly facilitate imposter fraud calls, using both criminal and civil tools where appropriate.”
Richard Donoghue, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, which includes Long Island, said: “We are using all available tools and resources to stop foreign call center scammers – and for the first time their U.S.-based enablers – from conning elderly and vulnerable victims in New York and throughout the United States. Protecting individuals from schemes that result in catastrophic losses to the victims is a priority of this Office and the Department of Justice.”
Since the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act was signed into law in 2017, the Department of Justice has participated in hundreds of enforcement actions that targeted senior citizens.
In March 2019, the department announced charges against more than 260 defendants in a nationwide elder fraud sweep.
Similarly, state Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach) introduced a bill that requires telemarketers to tell call recipients that they have the right to be placed on a do-not-call list and prohibits sharing of callers’ personal information without their consent. That bill was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in December.
