Peru Extradites 4 Accused Telephone Extortionists To US For Trial - Justice Department

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th April, 2019) Four residents of Peru have been sent to the United States to face trial for a large-scale extortion scheme, the US Department of Justice announced in a joint press release with the US Postal Inspection Service on Tuesday.

"Jesus Gerardo Gutierrez Rojas, 37, Maria de Guadalupe Alexandra Podesta Bengoa, 38, Virgilio Ignacio Polo Davila, 43, and Omar Alfredo Portocarrero Caceres, 39, face Federal charges in Miami," the release stated.

Peruvian authorities arrested the four in late 2017, based on a US indictment, the release said. All four remained incarcerated in Peru since the time of their arrest, and Peru approved the extradition in January 2019.

The defendants used Peruvian call centers to contact Spanish speakers in the United States with threats to pay settlements for nonexistent debts, according to the release.