Three Peruvian nationals pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud Spanish speakers in the United States of millions of dollars.
Omar Cuzcano Marroquin, 32, Jerson Renteria Gonzales, 37, and Evelyng Milla Campuzano, 35, from Lima, Peru, conspired to commit mail fraud and wire fraud after using a series of call centers to extort money from their victims, according to the Department of Justice on Friday.
STUDENTS FOR TRUMP CO-FOUNDER SENTENCED TO 13 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR PRETENDING TO BE A LAWYER
The individuals and their employees would call people offering fictitious free products, which included tablets with English-language courses, prosecutors said. In later calls, the victims were told they would need to make large payments to receive the products. When they refused, the individuals were threatened with criminal court proceedings, arrest, and even deportation.
The defendants admitted they and their employees pretended to be lawyers, court officials, federal agents, and representatives of a “minor crimes court.”
The three were arrested in July 2019 after the U.S. submitted an extradition request to Peru. The three were extradited to the Southern District of Florida in October 2020.
Cuzcano is scheduled to be sentenced July 9, while Renteria and Milla are scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 6. All three face up to 20 years in prison. Two unnamed codefendants would go to trial in January.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch will steadfastly pursue and prosecute transnational criminals who defraud vulnerable U.S. consumers,” said acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division in the statement. “Those who impersonate U.S. government officials and use threats to prey on our recent immigrant communities will be brought to justice and held accountable in U.S. courts.”
“With today’s technology, fraudsters can target victims living thousands of miles away as easily as they can target next-door neighbors,” acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida added. “This office, together with its domestic and international law enforcement partners, will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute criminals who prey on vulnerable victims within our district, no matter where those criminals are located.”
