Miami
Five residents of Lima, Peru, were extradited to the U.S. after they were charged with operating a large fraud and extortion scheme targeting Spanish-speaking consumers in the U.S., officials stated.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) will not allow overseas criminal enterprises to illegally enrich themselves by using the mail to defraud consumers in the United States,” said USPIS Miami Division Inspector in Charge Antonio J. Gomez. “With the continued cooperation of foreign governments, these criminals will be aggressively pursued and brought to justice.”
According to officials, Henrry Milla Campuzano, 36; Fernan Huerta Haro, 33; Evelyng Milla Campuzano, 35; Jerson Renteria Gonzales, 37; and Omar Cuzcano Marroquin, 32; all of Lima, Peru, face a 55-count indictment charging them with conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and extortion.
The indictment filed in federal court in June 2018 and unsealed upon the defendants’ extradition to the United States.
According to the indictment, the defendants managed and operated a series of connected Peruvian call centers that used Internet-based telephone calls to contact Spanish-speaking consumers in the U.S.
The call centers falsely told consumers they had won raffles for free products, including computer tablets with English-language courses.
Many consumer victims expressed interest in receiving the free products. In later calls, those victims—many of whom were elderly — were told they were required to make large payments to receive the products.
When victims objected, the callers misrepresented that the victims had unlawfully failed to pay for or receive delivery of products.
According to the indictment, the defendants and their employees falsely claimed to be lawyers, court officials, federal agents, and representatives of a supposed “minor crimes court.”
The defendants and their employees falsely told victims that they had a contractual obligation to pay for and receive products and had caused legal problems for themselves and others by allegedly failing to do so.
The indictment alleges that the callers also falsely threatened victims with court proceedings, negative marks on their credit reports, imprisonment, or immigration consequences if they did not immediately pay for the purportedly delivered products and settlement fees.
According to the indictment, many victims paid because of these baseless threats, and the defendants and their co-conspirators fraudulently collected over $3 million in victim payments.
All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.