Henry Adrian Milla Campuzano, 37, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud through two Peruvian call centres called Latinos en Acción and Acción Latino, which he owned and operated from 2011 to 2019.
Milla and his co-conspirators would portray themselves as lawyers, federal agents, and representatives of a so-called “minor crimes court,” which does not exist. They would then threaten their victims by saying if they did not immediately pay non-existent court settlement fees, they would face arrest, imprisonment, and deportation.
The scammers manipulated their victims into thinking that they were required to accept and pay for English-language courses and other educational services, otherwise they would be sued, according to the DOJ. All in all, they defrauded millions from innocent people in South Florida and the rest of the United States.
“The defendants were luring their victims into a trap of intimidation and fear, leaving them far worse off – with substantial financial losses and, often, emotional scars from these crimes,” said Brian M. Boynton, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's Civil Division.
Peruvian authorities arrested Milla in January 2020 based on a U.S. request and extradited him to Florida, according to the DOJ.
Milla received a sentence of 110 months in prison; four of his co-conspirators also pleaded guilty and received sentences ranging from 90 to 100 months imprisonment.
Two other alleged co-conspirators were arrested in Peru in June and subsequently extradited, according to the DOJ. They are currently being detained in Miami, awaiting trial set for February 2022.
Online and phone scams are widespread in the United States, costing victims billions each year.
Scammers often try to extort innocent people for services which they never provided, such as tech support or overdue power and utility fees. They can also get close to their victims through online romance scams and have them wire thousands of dollars for made-up reasons before disappearing.
Scammers will even impersonate police officers and lawyers, making their victims believe a close relative is in dire legal trouble, and stating that unless they quickly surrender thousands of dollars, their loved ones will be sent to jail.
In almost all cases, they will aggressively convey a high degree of urgency and demand immediate payment, so as to not give their victims a chance to see through the ruse.
